International

* Urgent inquiry ordered into Europe AstraZeneca findings * Australia heavily reliant on AstraZeneca vaccine * Chief medical officer says blood clots rare Australia has no current plans to change the rollout of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday, after Europe's drug regulator found possible links between rare blood clots and the vaccine. ‘At this point, there is no advice to suggest there would be any change to the rollout of the vaccine,’ Morrison told reporters in Canberra. The European Medicines Agency on Wednesday said it found rare cases of blood clots among some adult vaccine recipients, although it said the vaccine's advantages still outweighed the risks. Australian authorities have ordered an urgent inquiry into findings from Europe's drug regulator with Morrison expecting updates later on Thursday from the medicines regulator and the immunisation advisory group. The latest findings from the European regulator prompted Britain to recommend that people under 30 should get an alternative coronavirus vaccine, while Italy suggested AstraZeneca shots should only be used on those over 60. ‘Those two recommendations will be brought to the table today and looked at in the Australian context,’ Australia Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly told the Australian Broadcasting Corp television. But Kelly said the unusual blood clots among some vaccine recipients were ‘extremely rare’, and that the AstraZeneca doses were safe and effective for most people. Australia Health Minister Greg Hunt said the country's medicine regulator has the freedom to ‘fearlessly and frankly’ take their decision, including if the vaccine should be paused for people under 30. ‘If they provide age restrictions or other variations, we will do it, we will adopt it,’ Hunt said during a televised media conference. The EU decision could further complicate Australia's immunisation programme, which is more than 80% behind its original schedule, as it relies heavily on the AstraZeneca shots to vaccinate its near 26 million population. Australian authorities had pledged to administer at least 4 million first doses by the end of March, but could only deliver 670,000. The government blamed supply issues from Europe for the delay. It is looking to ramp up the immunisation programme from locally produced AstraZeneca vaccines, with 50 million doses set to be produced in Australia by CSL Ltd. Australia began vaccinations much later than some other countries due to low Covid-19 case numbers, recording just under 29,400 infections and 909 deaths since the pandemic began. Neighbouring New Zealand meanwhile on Thursday suspended entry for all travellers from India, including its own citizens, for about two weeks following a high number of positive coronavirus cases arriving from the South Asian country. Both Australia and New Zealand closed their borders to non-citizens very early in the pandemic to contain outbreaks but this is the first time that New Zealand has extended any bar on entry to its own citizens and residents.  

Australia said on Wednesday it will ask the European Union to release more than 3 million doses of AstraZeneca PLC's Covid-19 vaccine, testing Brussels claim it is not blocking shipments, as the country struggles to vaccinate its population. The European Union (EU) on Tuesday denied blocking vaccine shipments to Australia, which has fallen dramatically behind in its scheduled vaccination programme. The EU said it was not responsible for AstraZeneca's failure to uphold commitments to other countries. AstraZeneca did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Wednesday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia was asked by the EU to withdraw export permit applications and letters requesting supplies have gone unanswered. Morrison said if the EU was now indicating its willingness to release shipments, he would again ask for the 3.1 million doses to be released. The 3.1 million doses were scheduled to arrive in Australia by the end of March. ‘We obviously want those millions of doses,’ Morrison told reporters in the capital Canberra. ‘Given statements made overnight, that apparently there is no obstruction to that and then I would hope that could be readily addressed.’ Morrison on Wednesday insisted he was not criticising the EU, but senior members of his government continued to blame the EU for blocking vaccines. ‘They’re not giving approval is effectively the same as blocking,’ Australia's Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio. Australia says the delay in receiving the 3.1 million additional doses is why it has fallen behind in vaccinations. Only about 670,000 people have been vaccinated against an initial government target of 4 million by March-end. Australia has recorded a small number of COVID cases compared to most nations and has now eradicated the virus from its community, but its slow vaccine roll out is pressuring Morrison who is struggling in the polls a year out from the next election after a series of damaging allegations about the mistreatment of female lawmakers and staff in his Liberal party. THE STRUGGLE TO VACCINATE The dispute between Australia and the EU emphasises the challenge facing European nations which are struggling to vaccinate their own populations and the impact of new EU vaccine export controls on countries that had pre-ordered doses. Australia received an initial shipment of 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in late February, which it said was the last it received. Last month the EU, at Italy's request, blocked a shipment of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca PLC vaccine to Australia, citing vaccine shortages in Europe. The AstraZeneca vaccine from Europe was to underpin the early stages of Australia's vaccine drive, supplementing 50 million shots of the vaccine that will be produced locally by CSL Ltd. It has also imported doses of Pfizer Inc's vaccine for frontline COVID workers. Australia has recorded just over 29,000 cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began.  

* No quarantine or COVID testing in 'travel bubble' * Qantas, Air NZ to ramp up flight capacity * Tourism and sports operators gear up New Zealand will allow quarantine-free visits by Australians from April 19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday, creating a ‘travel bubble’ for the neighbouring nations which have closed borders to the rest of the world to eradicate Covid-19. Though most Australian states have allowed quarantine-free visits from New Zealanders for months, New Zealand has continued mandatory quarantine from its neighbour, citing concern about small Covid-19 outbreaks there. The virus has effectively been eradicated in both countries, with minor outbreaks a result of leakage from quarantined returned travellers. Australia has recorded about 29,400 virus cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began, while New Zealand has had just over 2,100 confirmed cases and 26 deaths. ‘The Trans-Tasman travel bubble represents a start of a new chapter in our COVID response and recovery, one that people have worked so hard at,’ Ardern told reporters in the New Zealand capital Wellington. ‘That makes New Zealand and Australia relatively unique. I know family, friends and significant parts of our economy will welcome it, as I know I certainly do.’ Other neighbouring countries have proposed special travel zones, but the New Zealand-Australia arrangement is among the first that does not involve mandatory Covid-19 testing. About 568,000 New Zealand-born people live in Australia, according to 2018 figures, equivalent to 2.3 per cent of Australia's population and Australia's fourth-largest migrant community. Australia supplied 1.5 million or 40% of arrivals in New Zealand in 2019, the year before the pandemic shut borders, contributing NZ$2.7 billion ($1.9 billion) to its economy, according to New Zealand figures. Arrivals were forecast to reach 80% of that level by early 2022, Ardern said. ‘Tourism operators can now take bookings with confidence and scale up their staffing,’ said Chris Roberts, CEO of New Zealand travel industry body Tourism Industry Aotearoa. 'FLYER BEWARE' Flights to and from some Australian states could still be suspended if there were local outbreaks, Ardern warned. She added that travellers must wear masks on flights and undertake New Zealand contact tracing, while the travel bubble did not apply to people transiting via Australia from other countries. The bubble would operate under a ‘flyer beware’ system, with no new support from the New Zealand government for people stuck in Australia by cancellations at short notice, Ardern said. Travel would operate state-by-state, and would follow a virus risk traffic-light system, with travel as normal in green light zones, halting for 72 hours in orange zones and halting for an extended period in red-light zones. Air New Zealand Ltd and Qantas Airways Ltd said they would ramp up flights between Australia and New Zealand to more than 70% of pre-pandemic levels, reducing the airlines' cash burn when they are almost wholly reliant on domestic markets for revenue. ‘I'll certainly be digging out my passport for the first time since I joined the airline to head across the ditch to see my family, and I'm especially looking forward to meeting some of my grandchildren for the first time,’ said Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran. The bubble will allow the Trans-Tasman Super Rugby competition involving five teams from each country to proceed over five weeks from May 14. The Wellington Phoenix soccer team New Zealand Warriors rugby league side, which both participate in predominantly Australian leagues, might also be able to host home matches after more than a year of playing their matches in Australia.  

Australia will continue its inoculation programme with AstraZeneca PLC, health officials said on Saturday, after a blood clotting case raised concern about the safety of the vaccine. A 44-year-old man was admitted to a Melbourne hospital with clotting, days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, suffering serious thrombosis, a condition that prevents normal blood flow though the circulatory system. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulator and a panel, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), met late Friday and early Saturday to discuss further advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine. "We have not been advised at this time by ATAGI or the TGA to pause the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia," Australia's deputy chief medical officer, Michael Kidd, told a televised briefing Saturday afternoon. Kidd said, however, that the blood clotting case is "likely" related to the vaccine. "The risks of serious side effects remain very low, but safety is paramount and that is why TAGI and the TGA are continuing to do due diligence on this case," Kidd said, adding that further announcements would come next week. On Thursday, Britain identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events following use of the vaccine. Several nations, including Canada, France, Germany and Spain, limited its use after similar reports. Possible complications with the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine could further slow the already delayed inoculation drive in Australia. Australia launched mass vaccinations for its 25 million people in February, with most expected to receive the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, as 50 million doses are being produced domestically by CSL Ltd. The country has had troubles, however, rolling out the programme, missing a March target by about 3.3 million doses as states and the federal government bickered over the blame. The troubles follow a year of significant success curbing the virus, with snap lockdowns, border closures and swift tracking limiting coronavirus infections to just under 29,300 infections, with 909 COVID-19 deaths. On Saturday, Queensland state, the epicentre of the most recent small outbreak of the coronavirus, recorded one new infection, health officials said, but risks to the public were minimal as the victim had been in isolation for days.

Australia is investigating whether a blood clotting disorder case recorded on Friday is related to the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd said. Australian media reported that a 44-year-old man was admitted to a Melbourne hospital with possible clotting days after receiving the vaccine. “Investigators have not at this time confirmed a causal link with the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine, but investigations are ongoing,” Kidd told a televised briefing. He added that more details are expected to be known on Saturday. Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the medicine and therapeutic regulatory agency, has said previously that AstraZeneca vaccine was not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots.

Australia ended a lockdown of its third-biggest city Brisbane yesterday, just in time for Easter holidays, as only one new locally transmitted Covid-19 case in Queensland state eased fears of a widespread outbreak. Video and photos on social media showed people wearing masks checking in at cafes and restaurants for lunch or having beer at bars as Brisbane emerged from its three-day snap lockdown at noon local time (0200 GMT). Residents are, however, still required to wear masks in public and some social distancing restrictions will remain in place, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said earlier in the day as she announced the easing of curbs. “We are expecting a very good Easter,” Palaszczuk said, even as she cautioned that the state was “not out of the woods yet”. Queensland is a popular destination for domestic travellers over the Easter break and subsequent school term holidays. “I’m asking Queenslanders for the next two weeks if we all do the right thing, we can get through this together,” Palaszczuk said at a televised briefing. Officials had imposed the snap lockdown in Brisbane, home to more than 2mn people, on Tuesday as they grappled to contain two fresh Covid-19 clusters that now comprise 18 cases, including the new local infection. High testing rates over the past 24 hours have enabled the easing of curbs, Palaszczuk said. But in broader measures, gatherings at homes across the state will remain capped at 30, dancing in public venues is banned and businesses must maintain distancing of one person per two square metres. The Queensland outbreak has jumped the border, with a case in neighbouring New South Wales (NSW) prompting the cancellation of the popular Bluesfest music festival in the coastal tourist town of Byron Bay and the reintroduction of mobility curbs in four council areas in the north of the state. NSW, of which Sydney is the capital city, reported no new cases yesterday. “We are confident that New South Wales is able to deal with the current scare,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters. Australia has largely curtailed the outbreak via border closures, snap lockdowns and speedy tracking systems. It has reported about 22,000 local cases, including 909 deaths, since the start of the pandemic, far fewer than most other developed nations. However, some health experts have warned a slow vaccine rollout is increasing the risk of fresh outbreaks. Around 670,000 doses had been administered by the end of March, well below Australia’s initial target of 4mn. States have complained about the pace of distribution and uncertainty about supplies, while the federal government has sought to shift blame over delays, suggesting states have been slow to administer doses. Berejiklian said NSW, Australia’s most populous state, was “ready and willing to help” with the centre’s vaccination drive. “The quicker people are vaccinated, the quicker we can look forward to the easing of restrictions, to feeling safer and to overseas trips,” she said.

Australia is considering diverting Covid-19 inoculations from its vaccination programme to Papua New Guinea (PNG) where the coronavirus is threatening to unleash a humanitarian disaster, a government source said on Friday. PNG is due to get 588,000 doses of vaccine by June under the COVAX initiative to help poorer countries but doubts have arisen about those supplies given new restrictions imposed in producing countries as the virus spreads. The European Union is implementing tougher vaccine export controls and has yet to respond to an Australian request that it release 1 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine that has been contracted to go to Australia, to PNG instead, the source told Reuters. India has put a temporary hold on all major exports of the AstraZeneca shot made by the Serum Institute of India to meet domestic demand, which will almost certainly delay deliveries to PNG. There is growing concern that PNG, an island nation of about 10 million people, many living in impoverished, isolated communities, can’t afford to wait. “We have a humanitarian disaster unfolding in our backyard,” said the source, who is familiar with the thinking of the government on the issue. The source declined to be identified as he is not authorised to talk to the media. Australia is still lobbying the EU for the 1 million doses but considering other options, the source said. “No decision has yet been made but the government is considering sending vaccines,” said the source, who did not comment on any quantity of doses being discussed. A government spokesman declined to comment.

Thousands of flood-stricken residents along Australia's east coast began a massive clean up effort Thursday, as waters receded revealing damaged homes, piles of debris and mud-caked roads. The region has been devastated by widespread flooding brought on by a torrential downpour, inundating towns, destroying farmland and leaving two people dead. On Thursday, David Williams stepped back inside his home in flood-hit Londonderry, to find waters lapping just below his knees and ‘gut-wrenching’ destruction. ‘That was pretty heartbreaking,’ he told AFP. ‘But we're fortunate that we're able to save a lot of stuff.’ Williams said he was now on the ‘long haul’ to recovery from the devastating floods, clearing out over eight trailer loads of once-prized possessions -- now a sodden, twisted mess dumped on the side of the road. In coastal areas north of Sydney, hundreds of troops and volunteer firefighters bolstered efforts in stretched communities by digging mud from roads and clearing debris from properties. Ben Shepherd, an inspector from the Rural Fire Service, said the teams wanted ‘to try and return communities to some sense of normality as soon as possible’. ‘This is going to be a prolonged event that is potentially going to take weeks -- if not months -- in some areas,’ he told AFP. Farmers were also pitching in, donating hay as emergency feed for livestock and trucking it hundreds of miles across the country to help others who have ‘lost everything’. Across the vast flood zone, many communities remain cut off by swollen rivers and it was still unsafe for about 20,000 people to return home. Authorities pleaded with residents to remain vigilant around floodwaters. ‘We believe that most river systems have peaked but complacency is a concern for us,’ state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. ‘Unpredictable flows will continue to occur in communities which haven't seen this amount of rainfall for up to 50 or 100 years.’ - Homes, businesses damaged -Emergency services have responded to over 12,000 calls for help since the disaster struck late last week, rescuing more than 1,000 people from floodwaters. On Wednesday, officers said they had discovered the remains of a 25-year-old Pakistani man trapped in his car in six metres (20 feet) of floodwater in Sydney's northwest. Just hours later, Queensland police said divers had found a second man dead in a vehicle that was upturned in a river on the Gold Coast. Flooding has extended to parts of the outback, including Moree where television images showed the inland town split into two by a bursting river Thursday. Meteorologists have forecast sunshine for most affected areas until the end of the week. But close to Sydney near the still-overflowing Hawkesbury River, the focus remains on ferrying food, medical supplies and other essentials to isolated areas. Bianca Tolhurst was able to rescue all her horses and cattle when her 150-acre farm in Richmond went under water but said the prospect of starting to clean up when fields were still inundated was ‘exhausting’. We don't even know what the recovery is until the water subsides. We have no idea what we're dealing with,’ she told AFP. ‘I don't even know where to start.’ Thousands of homes and businesses have been damaged in the flooding, with insurers receiving more than 22,000 claims so far. Some coastal regions received a metre (three feet) of water in a week, the equivalent of two-thirds of normal annual rainfall. Scientists have warned Australia can expect more frequent and more extreme weather events as a result of climate change. When the floods hit, many were still reeling from a prolonged drought and unprecedented bushfires just over a year ago. In Londonderry, Williams said he was lucky compared to an elderly couple who lives next door, after their home was filled to waist height with thick muddy water and debris. ‘They've lost everything. They've got nothing left. Got a couple of memories, and that's it.’    

Australian authorities issued fresh flood warnings and evacuation orders yesterday as torrential rains again pummelled several parts of the country, sweeping away homes, roads and livestock in the worst downpour in more than half a century. The national weather agency posted weather warnings in every mainland state or territory but one, affecting around 10mn people in the country of 25mn, across an area the size of Alaska. “The rain and flood situation does remain dynamic and extremely complex,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters. No deaths were reported, but thousands of people have been rescued by emergency services in recent days. Authorities have ordered about 22,000 people to be ready to flee their homes, potentially joining around 18,400 people who have already been evacuated. Images shared on social media showed bridges washed away, stranded animals and submerged homes in New South Wales, the most populous and worst affected state. One video showed a container truck ramming into a bridge, causing structural damage, while another showed a car swept off a road by raging floodwaters in neighbouring Queensland. Other photos captured mass swarms of spiders and snakes as the creatures sought to escape the fast-moving flood waters. In NSW, a fourth straight day of heavy rain was expected to combine with a coastal trough and increase the deluge overnight yesterday, even as the main city Sydney saw a reprieve by late afternoon. Thousands of people who live along the Hawkesbury River, a major waterway about 60km north of Sydney, were told to be ready to evacuate. Dave Murray, a landscaper from North Richmond, on the Hawkesbury, filmed with a head-mounted camera from his jetski as he rescued his neighbour’s 10 cows by forcing them to swim about 300 metres through floodwater five metres deep. “I knew they could swim because I’ve done it before, but I didn’t realise they could swim as good as that,” Murray said by telephone. Emergency workers used inflatable rafts and even some surf boats, usually reserved for beach rescues, to reach stranded locals, Reuters footage showed. Alicia Pitt was rescued along with her family from their holiday cabin on the Hawkesbury River. “We’ve got a place on the other side of the river and we just came over to move our van onto high ground and were trapped on the other side of the river, with the landslides, so we’ve been there for a couple of days,” Pitt told Reuters. Warragamba Dam, Sydney’s main water supply, began overflowing on Saturday and was expected to keep doing so for another week. The summer before, amid drought and bushfires, the same dam fell below half its water catchment, triggering severe water restrictions. Authorities began coordinating with supermarkets to ship groceries to people who could not get to a store, Federal Emergency Management minister David Littleproud said. Grocery chain Coles Group Ltd planned to deliver essentials to stores near the Hawkesbury yesterday. Rival grocer Woolworths Group Ltd said it closed several stores due to staff safety concerns and warned of delivery delays as trucks were re-routed to avoid flooded roads. Coal deliveries to Port of Newcastle, north of Sydney, the world’s biggest coal export port, were halted earlier because flooding shut rail lines. Yesterday, the country’s biggest independent coal miner, Whitehaven Coal Ltd, said it was forced to stop shiploading at the port due to structural faults, while weather-related port restrictions were slowing ship movements. The company said road flooding may also stop staff driving to work and cut its forecast coal sales to a range of 18.5mn to 19mn tonnes, from a range of 19mn to 20mn previously.

* Around 40% of population under severe weather warnings * Houses, bridges, vehicles, livestock swept away * Almost 20,000 people evacuated * Emergency crews evacuate people north-west of Sydney Australian authorities issued fresh flood warnings and evacuation orders on Tuesday as torrential rains again pummelled several parts of the country, sweeping away homes, roads and livestock in the worst downpour in more than half a century. The national weather agency has posted severe weather warnings in every mainland state or territory but one, affecting around 10 million people in the country of 25 million, across an area the size of Alaska. ‘The rain and flood situation does remain dynamic and extremely complex,’ Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters. No deaths were reported, but thousands of people have been rescued by emergency services in recent days. About 18,000 people have been evacuated with authorities expecting about 15,000 others to join them. Images shared on social media showed entire bridges washed away, stranded animals and submerged homes in New South Wales, the most populous and most affected state. One video showed a container truck ramming into a bridge, causing structural damage, while another showed a car swept off a road by raging floodwaters in neighbouring Queensland. Other photos captured mass swarms of spiders and snakes as the creatures sought to escape the fast-moving flood waters. In NSW, a fourth consecutive day of heavy rain was expected to combine with a coastal trough over the coming 24 hours, increasing the deluge. ‘Weather conditions have worsened, and those weather conditions are likely to worsen during the day so many communities will experience increasing heavy rainfall,’ said NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. The owner of a restaurant that was underwater on the banks of the Hawkesbury River, 62 km (38 miles) north of Sydney, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp that he rescued a neighbour's baby who needed medical attention by boat. ‘My brother rang and said 'please get over here, we have to get this baby out'. We got them across the river and to a car,’ restaurant owner Darren Osmotherly said. Warragamba Dam, Sydney's main water supply, began overflowing on Saturday and was expected to keep doing so for another week. A year earlier, amid drought and bushfires, the same dam fell below half its water catchment, triggering severe water restrictions. Though the weather system is likely to start easing from late Wednesday, officials warned affected residents may not be able to return to their homes immediately as incessant rains dump more water in river catchment areas. COAL DELIVERIES Coal deliveries to Port of Newcastle, north of Sydney, the world's biggest coal export port, were halted earlier because flooding shut rail lines. On Tuesday, the country's biggest independent coal miner, Whitehaven Coal Ltd, said it was forced to stop shiploading at the port due to structural faults, while weather-related port restrictions were slowing ship movements. The company said road flooding may also hamper workforce movements and cut its forecast coal sales to a range of 18.5 million to 19 million tonnes, from a range of 19 million to 20 million previously.  

Heavy rains along Australia’s east coast over the weekend have brought the worst flooding in half a century in some areas, authorities said yesterday, forcing thousands to evacuate and damaging hundreds of houses.  New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the downpour across the state, Australia’s most populous with 8mn people, was worse than initially expected, especially for low-lying areas in Sydney’s northwest. “Yesterday, we were hoping it will only be a one-in-20-year event, now it looks like a one-in-50-year event,” Berejiklian said at a televised briefing. People in parts of Sydney’s northwest were ordered to flee their houses in the middle of the night as fast-moving waters caused widespread destruction. Late on Sunday, about another 1,000 people were asked to evacuate, after Berejiklian said that some 4,000 people may be asked to leave their houses.  Television and social media footage showed fast-moving water unmooring houses, engulfing roads, breaking trees and damaging road infrastructure. Emergency services estimate the total number of damaged houses to be “in the hundreds”. Several major roads were closed across the state while many schools called off classes for today. Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a Facebook post announced federal financial assistance for those affected. The flooding comes in stark contrast with the devastating bushfires that struck Australia in late 2019 and early 2020, when nearly 7% of NSW land was scorched. Flooding risk and evacuation warnings were in place for about 13 areas in NSW, including the Hunter, one of Australia’s major wine regions. Several dams, including Warragamba, Sydney’s main water supply, spilled over causing river levels to surge.  Meteorologists said the downpour is set to continue for several days. Emergency crews have responded to about 6,000 calls for help since the start of the rains on Thursday, including nearly 700 direct pleas for rescue from floods. The extreme weather has also affected Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine delivery to across NSW, disrupting the country’s plans to deliver the first doses to almost 6 million people over the next few weeks. Yesterday, Australia’s medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), granted approval for locally produced AstraZeneca vaccines.  The Australian government has purchased 50mn doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be manufactured locally.

Heavy rains along Australia’s east coast over the weekend have brought the worst flooding in half a century in some areas, authorities said on Sunday, forcing thousands to evacuate and damaging hundreds of houses. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the downpour across the state, Australia’s most populous with 8 million people, was worse than initially expected, especially for low-lying areas in Sydney’s northwest. “Yesterday, we were hoping it will only be a one-in-20-year event, now it looks like a one-in-50-year event,” Berejiklian said at a televised briefing. People in parts of Sydney’s northwest were ordered to flee their houses in the middle of the night as fast-moving waters caused widespread destruction. Berejiklian said another 4,000 people may still be asked to evacuate. Television and social media footage showed fast-moving water unmooring houses, engulfing roads, breaking trees and damaging road infrastructure. Emergency services estimate the total number of damaged houses to be “in the hundreds”. Several major roads were closed across the state while many schools called off classes for Monday. The flooding comes in stark contrast with the devastating bushfires that struck Australia in late 2019 and early 2020, when nearly 7% of NSW land was scorched. Flooding risk and evacuation warnings were in place for about 13 areas in NSW, including the Hunter, one of Australia’s major wine regions. Several dams, including Warragamba, Sydney’s main water supply, spilled over causing river levels to surge. Meteorologists said the downpour is set to continue for the rest of Sunday, with some areas expected to get up to 200 millimetres (7.9 inches) of rain. Emergency crews have responded to about 6,000 calls for help since the start of the rains on Thursday, including nearly 700 direct pleas for rescue from floods. The extreme weather has also affected Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine delivery to across NSW, disrupting the country’s plans to deliver the first doses to almost 6 million people over the next few weeks. “We have to wait and see what happens with the weather in the coming days,” Australian Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said at a televised briefing.

Record rains and widespread flooding prompted evacuations along Australia’s east coast yesterday and threatened the most serious overflow of Sydney’s main reservoir in 30 years, officials said. Authorities warned of potentially “life-threatening” flash floods as the torrential rains pummelled a vast coastal region already soaked by an unusually wet summer. “It’s a very significant, record-breaking event with the rainfall that we have seen,” said Agata Imielska of the Bureau of Meteorology. Police said hundreds of people had flocked to evacuation centres in areas north of Sydney in New South Wales state, and they expected many more to seek shelter as the rains moved south down the coast. The Bureau of Meteorology reported flooding levels surpassing record 2013 floods along the Hastings River outside Port Macquarie, about 400km north of Sydney, though the river levels started descending later Saturday. Towns in the area have already seen record rainfall of more than 400mm since Friday morning, the bureau said. It warned the heavy rains were forecast to move down the coast over the weekend, “potentially leading to life-threatening flash flooding” in some areas.  The flood and extreme weather warnings stretched from Port Macquarie to areas 500km south of Sydney, where residents were urged to stay indoors due to the flash flooding risk. The Warragamba Dam, which provides much of the drinking water for Sydney, began spilling over Saturday afternoon in what experts expected to be the first significant overflow of the reservoir since 1990 although there have been smaller breaches more recently.  “We are in unchartered territory,” warned Ian Wright, a water expert at Western Sydney University, who said the rapid urbanisation of the western Sydney area around the Warragamba since 1990 meant its spillover could no longer be reabsorbed by surrounding bushland. “The urban development adds hard, impervious surfaces, and drainage infrastructure. In heavy rain, this can rapidly generate high-velocity floodwaters,” Wright tweeted. Authorities issued an evacuation order for the town of Picton south of the dam after the spill and were closely monitoring flood-prone areas of western Sydney.  Most of the severe flooding Saturday was along the coast north of Sydney, where television images showed city and town streets underwater, and one house literally floating down a bloated river.  Prime Minister Scott Morrison lamented the “absolutely heart-breaking scenes” of homes, towns and businesses inundated and offered troops to help with the emergency effort. National broadcaster ABC said the rain and floods would also delay the already halting roll-out of coronavirus vaccines in Sydney and surrounding areas.

Australia's east coast was smashed by heavy rains on Saturday, sparking dangerous flash flooding that forced the evacuation of multiple regions as the fast moving waters unmoored houses, engulfed roads, stranded towns and cut power lines. In Sydney, the country's biggest city, authorities pleaded for people to stay at home as a major dam overflowed and a mini-tornado tore through a western suburb. Most of the coast of New South Wales (NSW) state, which is home to about a third of Australia's 25 million people, has already seen March rainfall records broken and authorities warned the downpour was likely to continue for several days. "I hate to say this again to all our citizens of the state, but it's not going to be an easy week for us," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told a televised briefing. "The rain may not stop till Thursday or Friday." Officials had issued nine evacuation orders for about 15 areas by Saturday afternoon. Television footage showed increasing damage across the state, with water engulfing houses up to the windows, people kayaking through the streets, and damaged roads. One video showed an entire house being swept away. Local media reported that the house owners had managed to evacuate. Warragamba Dam, a major water supply for Sydney, began overflowing on Saturday afternoon. Officials warned that the overflow would quickly add to swollen rivers, leading to flash flooding. A mini-tornado ripped through a suburb in the west of the city, causing damage to more than 30 homes, knocking down trees and cutting power, emergency services said. People were urged to avoid any non-essential trips, with officials lambasting those who had needed help after venturing out into the stormy weather. Emergency crews responded to about 4,000 calls for help over the past two days, including 500 direct flood rescues, a level NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said was "just completely unacceptable." "The message is clear: do not walk through or drive through floodwaters, do not drive over water that is covering a road," Elliott said. The Bureau of Meteorology forecast rainfall totals in the Greater Sydney region this weekend of around 100 millimetres and up to 300 millimetres in the Blue Mountains region about 100 kilometres inland. The agency also predicted damaging winds of up to 70 kilometres per hour with gusts exceeding 90 kilometres per hour. Social and sporting events were called off across the state, including football games and one of Australian turf’s marquee horse races, the A$3.5 million ($2.7 million) Golden Slipper. Almost 30 children in the rural town of Kendall spent Friday night in their primary school library together with more than a dozen of staff after flooding trapped them inside and prevented parents from collecting them. "Lots of hungry little bellies this morning as everyone woke up after a settled quiet night," a note on the school's Facebook page said. "All safe and sound here at school."

Papua New Guinea's health minister on Wednesday told AFP the country's record wave of coronavirus infections will "spike" further in coming weeks, calling on drug-maker AstraZeneca to urgently deliver one million vaccine doses to staunch the looming crisis. Jelta Wong warned his under-resourced nation was already "running at full throttle" to prevent a wave of coronavirus cases from running out of control, saying new lockdowns and overseas help were urgently needed. "In the next couple of weeks, there is going to be a spike in the cases," he said, amid rising fears of an impending health disaster in the impoverished South Pacific nation of nine million. Papua New Guinea rapidly shut its international borders at the beginning of the pandemic, limiting infections to just a few hundred and dodging the worst ravages of the global crisis. But more than 1,000 new cases have been uncovered this month alone, and with testing rates still low, there are fears the real total is much higher. "The community transmission is out there, and I'm pretty sure that we haven't detected a lot of it," Wong admitted. "But we're running at full capacity just to ensure that we do get to all places." With hospitals reporting a surge in patients and emergency staff falling sick, Australia on Wednesday said it was rushing 8,000 doses to its northern neighbour to inoculate frontline workers. In Canberra, Prime Minister Scott Morrison also called for AstraZeneca to divert one million Australian-bought doses to Papua New Guinea as soon as possible. Wong said those doses were needed "just to control the spread" before the situation gets out of hand. "I'd rather have it here than wait for it to come when we're really down," he told AFP. Papua New Guinea's rough terrain of high mountain valleys, dense jungles and a lack of infrastructure make gauging the scale of the emergency difficult. But Australia's chief medical officer Paul Kelly said there were reports hospitals in the capital Port Moresby were detecting the virus in about half of new patient admissions. "Half of women who are coming in due to pregnancy are positive. We're seeing a large number of healthcare workers on the front lines in Papua New Guinea now coming down with Covid-19," he added. "These are all signs that there is a major epidemic in the community." Officials in Queensland told AFP that about half the state's hospitalised Covid-19 patients had come from Papua New Guinea, while a recent batch of 500 tests sent from Port Moresby showed a 50 percent infection rate. Wong said vast nationwide memorial services this month for Papua New Guinea's first prime minister and "father of the nation" Michael Somare would likely contribute to the surge in cases. At one event in Port Moresby, throngs of people lined Independence Boulevard throwing flowers onto the passing motorcade carrying the body of the "Grand Chief" as it approached parliament. "The culture is when they show their grief, everybody turns up," said Wong. "People seem to forget... you still need to have the mask, still social distance yourself and sanitise." "Unfortunately, we haven't had that during the mourning period." - Vaccine nationalism -The call for AstraZeneca vaccine to be diverted to Papua New Guinea comes amid debate over "vaccine nationalism" after Italy blocked the export of 300,000 doses to Australia. Canberra played down that blockade, saying the vaccines were not urgently needed Down Under -- where there is little community transmission. But there are now concerns that the situation in Papua New Guinea could spill over the vast maritime border between the two countries. Australia has suspended most passenger flights to and from PNG, with exemptions for essential medical and humanitarian travel. Charter flights to and from mining operations in Papua New Guinea -- which had already been put on hold -- were frozen indefinitely. Despite a sluggish vaccine rollout in Australia, the country also accelerated inoculations across its northern Torres Strait islands, which lie just a few miles from Papua New Guinea.

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he remained optimistic the country's Covid-19 vaccination drive would finish on time by October despite initial delays as it reported zero new local cases for the 11th straight day on Tuesday. Australia began mass inoculation for its 25 million population on Feb. 22 but missed its targets in the first two weeks as the pace of vaccination slowed after two elderly people were inadvertently given four times the recommended dose. Morrison said the vaccination rollout targets will be met as the government looks to ramp up the immunisation drive when Australia begins the local production of vaccine by the end of the month. ‘Yes, I do remain confident about that but that doesn't mean we won't hit obstacles. It doesn't mean there won't be the odd frustration, the odd logistics issue ... that is to be expected with a project of this scale,’ Morrison told reporters. Australia has been gradually easing restrictions after reporting zero or low-single digit cases over the last several weeks helping put the economy in a faster recovery path. Morrison on Tuesday said the government would spend A$1.2 billion ($920 million) to expand its wage subsidy scheme for apprentices, the first step in weaning the economy off a larger Covid-19 employee aid programme. New South Wales state, which has not reported any local cases for more than seven weeks, said it was in talks with Tasmania state to quarantine international students on their behalf as it looks to revive the lucrative sector. Tasmania has rejected the proposal saying priority would be given for seasonal workers and its own international students, Australian media reported. Australia has reported just over 29,000 Covid-19 cases and 909 deaths, with border closures and speedy tracking systems helping keep numbers relatively low.  

Australia has asked the European Commission to review its decision to block a shipment of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine and Japan is investigating the matter, as countries importing EU-made shots fear a potential impact on supplies.  The EU executive backed Italy’s decision to block a shipment of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia, several European officials said, in the first refusal of an export request since a mechanism to monitor vaccine flows was established in late January. The move was a reaction to AstraZeneca’s delays in delivering vaccines to the EU, as the company said it could supply about 40mn doses of the 90mn foreseen in the contract for the first quarter of this year. One official said the Anglo-Swedish firm had initially asked Rome to ship even more doses to Australia, but then cut its request to 250,000 after a first refusal by Italy, where some of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccines are bottled. “Australia has raised the issue with the European Commission through multiple channels, and in particular we have asked the European Commission to review this decision,” Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters in Melbourne. Hunt said Australia, which began its inoculation programme two weeks ago, had already received 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which would last until local production of the vaccine ramps up. He added the missing doses would not affect the rollout of Australia’s inoculation programme. When asked about the EU’s export ban, Japan vaccine minister Taro Kono said: “We are asking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to thoroughly investigate. We want to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to secure the vaccines bound for Japan.” AstraZeneca did not reply to a request for comment. Apart from the decision to block the shipment to Australia, the EU has authorised all requests for export since the scheme’s Jan 30 debut to March 1, which amounted to 174 requests for millions of shots to 29 countries, including Australia, Japan, Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Canada, an EU Commission spokeswoman said. Almost all vaccines exported from the EU since the end of January are made by Pfizer and BioNTech, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said last week, with much smaller amounts being exported by Moderna and AstraZeneca. The EU set up the mechanism to monitor vaccine exports after drugmakers announced delays in their supplies to the 27-nation bloc. It is now planning to extend the scheme until the end of June after it expires on March 31, EU officials told Reuters . When asked about Italy’s move, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that Paris could do the same, although at the moment it produces no Covid-19 vaccines. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that drug manufacturers must honour vaccine supply contracts to Europe, but said Germany had not yet had any reason to stop shipments of shots produced domestically to other countries. While seeking the European Commission’s intervention, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he could understand reasons for Italy’s objection. “In Italy people are dying at the rate of 300 a day. And so I can certainly understand the high level of anxiety that would exist in Italy and in many countries across Europe,” Morrison told reporters in Sydney. Italy’s move came just days after Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who took office last month, told fellow EU leaders that the bloc needed to speed up vaccinations and crack down on pharma companies that failed to deliver on promised supplies. EU countries started inoculations at the end of December, but are moving at a far slower pace than many other nations, with officials blaming the slow progress in part on supply problems with key manufacturers.

Australia has asked the European Commission to review a decision by Italy to block a shipment of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, while stressing on Friday the missing doses would not affect the rollout of Australia's inoculation programme. Italy, supported by the European Commission, barred the planned export of around 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine after the drug manufacturer failed to meet its European Union contract commitments. ‘Australia has raised the issue with the European Commission through multiple channels, and in particular we have asked the European Commission to review this decision,’ Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters in Melbourne. Hunt said Australia had already received 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, which would last until local production of the vaccine ramps up. Australia began its inoculation programme two weeks ago, vaccinating frontline health staff and senior citizens with Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine though doses of that vaccine are limited amid tight global supplies. AstraZeneca did not immediately reply to a request for comment. AstraZeneca did not immediately reply to a request for comment. While seeking the European Commission's intervention, Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he could understand reasons for Italy's objection. ‘In Italy people are dying at the rate of 300 a day. And so I can certainly understand the high level of anxiety that would exist in Italy and in many countries across Europe,’ Morrison told reporters in Sydney. Italy's move came just days after Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who took office last month, told fellow EU leaders that the bloc needed to speed up vaccinations and crack down on pharma companies that failed to deliver on promised supplies. EU countries started inoculations at the end of December, but are moving at a far slower pace than many other nations, with officials blaming the slow progress in part on supply problems with key manufacturers. Australian officials on Friday administered the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, to a doctor. Australia has ordered 53.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford. Local pharmaceutical company CSL Ltd has secured the rights to manufacture 50 million of those doses in Australia and expects to release the first batch near the end of March. The locally produced doses will provide the backbone of Australia's inoculation programme, which officials hope to complete by October. Australia is under less pressure than many other countries, having recorded just under 29,000 Covid-19 cases and 909 deaths. The lower infection and death tallies have been helped by strict lockdowns, speedy tracking systems and border closures.    

Australia has freed dozens of refugees after holding them in detention for years under a policy designed to deter people from seeking asylum in the country, advocates said Tuesday. More than 60 refugees were released over the past two days from hotels and detention centres in Brisbane, Sydney and Darwin, according to the Refugee Action Coalition and legal representatives. They were granted temporary visas after spending up to eight years in Australian detention on Pacific islands before being transferred to the country for medical treatment. Canberra has sent anyone attempting to arrive in Australia by boat to Papua New Guinea's Manus island and Nauru, under a hardline approach it says is designed to prevent people-smuggling. The group's release comes after more than 60 refugees were freed in similar circumstances in December and January. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told local radio in January that it was "cheaper" for the refugees to be released into the community than to be held in detention. Noeline Balasanthiran Harendran of Sydney West Legal and Migration said the releases came after several refugees took court action against the Australian government challenging the validity of their detention. "From our point of view, it's because we've been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they're being held with no purpose... to hold people in detention you need to have a purpose," she told AFP. Ian Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition, urged the government to release about 75 other refugees still being held in Australia. More than 250 also remain in limbo in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. "They've got no idea why they've been left behind and no idea what the future holds," he told AFP. The Department of Home Affairs said government policy remained "steadfast" that the refugees "will not settle permanently in Australia". "Transitory persons have third country migration options and are encouraged to finalise their medical treatment so they can continue on their resettlement pathway to the United States, return to Nauru or PNG, or return to their home country," a spokesperson said. However, Dutton has admitted it would now be "very hard" for the government to make that happen. The United Nations, human rights groups and doctors have condemned Canberra for its treatment of detainees, as stories of dire living conditions, self-harm and violence emerged from the offshore camps over the years.

 * Loyal Wingman can carry weapons, shield crewed fighters * Auustralia to invest $89 mln in three more aircraft * Teaming flights expected later this year * Britain has announced plans for similar programme Boeing Co and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) said on Tuesday they had completed the first flight test on a pilotless fighter-like jet designed to operate in conjunction with crewed aircraft. The "Loyal Wingman", the first military aircraft to be designed and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years, flew under the supervision of a Boeing test pilot monitoring it from a ground control station in South Australia. Boeing's Loyal Wingman is 11.6 metres long, has a 2,000 nautical mile (3,704 km) range and a nose that can be removed to fit various payloads. It can carry weapons and act as a shield to help protect more expensive manned fighter jets. The Australian government said on Tuesday it would invest a further A$115 million ($89 million) to acquire three more aircraft to develop teaming tactics with crewed planes, on top of its initial investment of A$40 million. Boeing has said the system could be customised for other global customers. Defence contractors are investing increasingly in autonomous technology as militaries around the world look for cheaper and safer ways to maximise their resources. Britain in January signed a GBP 30 million ($42 million) contract with the Belfast unit of Spirit AeroSystems for a similar type of pilotless aircraft to have a trial flight in the next three years. During the test flight in Australia, the Loyal Wingman took off under its own power before flying a pre-determined route at different speeds and altitudes to verify its functionality and demonstrate the performance of the design. The first Loyal Wingman is being used as a foundation for Boeing's Airpower Teaming System, a service being developed for various global defence customers. Boeing said additional Loyal Wingman aircraft are currently under development, with plans for teaming flights scheduled for later this year. The plane maker has previously said up to 16 of the Loyal Wingman jets could be teamed with a crewed aircraft for missions.