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World

Australia raises migration target amid labour squeeze, global talent race

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  • Permanent migration numbers raised by 35,000
  • Change brought in for one-year only
  • More funds, staff to speed up visa processing

SYDNEY, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Australia on Friday increased its intake of permanent migrants to 195,000 this financial year, up by 35,000, in a bid to help businesses and industries battling widespread staff shortages and reduce reliance on short-term workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic closed the country’s borders for nearly two years and along with an exodus of holiday workers and foreign students left businesses struggling to find staff to keep afloat.

“It makes no sense to bring people in, have them for a few years, then get a new cohort in to adapt to the Australian work environment,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on the sidelines of a government jobs summit in Canberra.

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“We want people … to have a mortgage, to raise a family, to join the Australian family. Migration is part of our story.”

The increase will take effect for the current financial year ending June 2023 and will bring Australia’s immigration target largely in line with the annual cap of 190,000 that was in place between 2013 and 2019.

That level was cut by 15% to 160,000 just months before the emergence of COVID-19 in a bid to ease urban congestion. The government gave no details on numbers going forward.

The recently elected centre-left Labor government convened the two-day summit, inviting business groups and unions to help find solutions to key economic challenges. read more

Australia’s unemployment rate is now at a near 50-year-low of 3.4% but labour shortages have contributed to soaring inflation that has reduced real wages.

“COVID is presenting us, on a platter, with a chance to reform our immigration system that we will never get back again. I want us to take that chance,” Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil told the summit.

SKILLED LABOUR RACE

Australia has been competing with other developed economies, like Canada and Germany, to lure more high-skilled immigrants, with the surge in demand exacerbated by an ageing population.

Canada, last month, said it was on track to exceed its goal of granting permanent residency to more than 430,000 people this year, more than double Australia’s target, while Germany plans reforms to make itself more attractive to skilled workers.

But a blowout in visa processing times in Australia has left about a million prospective workers stuck in limbo, worsening the staff shortage crisis. read more

“We understand that when people wait and wait, the uncertainty can become unmanageable,” Immigration Minister Andrew Giles told the summit. “This is not good enough, and reflects a visa system that has been in crisis.”

In a bid to speed up visa processing, Giles said the government will spend A$36.1 million ($25 million) to beef up its staff capacity by 500 people for the next nine months.

Businesses welcomed the government’s efforts.

“We are in a global competition for the world’s best talent and the more barriers we remove from the system the more chance we will have of attracting the best people,” said Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group.

($1 = 1.4725 Australian dollars)

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Reporting by Renju Jose and Lewis Jackson; editing by Richard Pullin

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World

China’s big cities, from Dalian to Shenzhen, ramp up COVID curbs

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BEIJING/SHENZHEN, China, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Several of China’s biggest cities imposed tougher COVID-19 curbs on Tuesday, further crimping the activities of tens of millions, and sparking fresh concerns for the health of a barely growing economy.

Metropolises from the southern tech hub of Shenzhen to southwestern Chengdu and the northeastern port of Dalian ordered measures such as lockdowns in big districts and business closures aimed at stamping out fresh outbreaks.

The latest curbs, which will delay the start of the school year for some, reflect China’s strict adherence to a “dynamic COVID zero” policy of quashing every flare-up.

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That insistence makes it an outlier as the rest of the world tries to live with coronavirus despite the cost to the world’s second-largest economy.

While many of the measures are initially planned to run just a few days, any major escalation or extension in some of China’s biggest cities risks further hurting already tepid growth. read more

While the two most populous cities of Beijing and Shanghai have faced only sporadic cases recently, COVID worries still weighed on Chinese stocks.

“Markets could once again be hit in the next couple of weeks, likely triggering another round of cuts by economists on the street,” Nomura warned in a note, highlighting the significance of cities such as Shenzhen, also a major port.

On Tuesday, the Shenzhen district of Longhua, which has 2.5 million residents, closed entertainment venues and wholesale markets, and suspended large events.

People must show proof of negative test results within 24 hours to enter residential compounds, and restaurants must limit patrons to half of capacity, Longhua’s district authorities said. The new curbs will run until Saturday.

The moves followed similar measures on Monday covering three other districts that affected over 6 million in Shenzhen, which has fought outbreaks of Omicron sub-variants this year.

City officials have stopped short of a blanket delay for the new school year, but six parents of young children said their schools had told them of postponements, as many in parent chat groups expressed anxiety over the uncertainty.

PORT CITY SHUT DISTRICTS

In Dalian, a major import hub for soybeans and iron ore, a lockdown begun on Tuesday is set to run until Sunday in the main urban areas with about 3 million residents. Households may send one person each day to shop for daily needs.

The lockdown requires non-essential workers to work from home, while manufacturing companies must cut on-site staff and maintain only basic and urgent operations.

The southwestern city of Chengdu, with a population of 21 million, ordered blanket closure of public entertainment and cultural venues from Tuesday.

It planned to delay the start of the fall school semester, and mandated residents to have proof of negative test result within 24 hours for entry to certain areas.

The northern municipality of Tianjin, home to 13.7 million, started a new round of citywide COVID testing, its fourth since Saturday.

The city of Tianjin said it would delay resuming offline classes for many schools.

In the northern city of Shijiazhuang, about 3-1/2-hours drive from Beijing, four big districts have ordered more than 3 million people to work from home until Wednesday afternoon, except for those in essential jobs.

Mainland China reported 1,717 domestically transmitted COVID infections for Aug. 29, 349 of these symptomatic and 1,368 asymptomatic, official data showed on Tuesday.

From more than 20 places that reported infections for Monday, Tibet, Qinghai and the province of Sichuan, of which Chengdu is the capital, accounted for the bulk of daily cases.

Qinghai’s capital of Xining, with a population of 2.5 million, ordered a lockdown from Monday until Thursday morning in key urban areas, halting public transport and limiting movement.

Cases have been rising in Hong Kong, which does not have the same zero-COVID measures as mainland China, with government advisers expecting a daily tally of 10,000 infections this week, fanning fears of a tightening of just-eased curbs.

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Reporting by Roxanne Liu, Ryan Woo, David Kirton and Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Clarence Fernandez

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Health

‘Living with COVID’: Where the pandemic could go next

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LONDON/CHICAGO, Aug 1 (Reuters) – As the third winter of the coronavirus pandemic looms in the northern hemisphere, scientists are warning weary governments and populations alike to brace for more waves of COVID-19.

In the United States alone, there could be up to a million infections a day this winter, Chris Murray, head of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent modeling group at the University of Washington that has been tracking the pandemic, told Reuters. That would be around double the current daily tally.

Across the United Kingdom and Europe, scientists predict a series of COVID waves, as people spend more time indoors during the colder months, this time with nearly no masking or social distancing restrictions in place.

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However, while cases may surge again in the coming months, deaths and hospitalizations are unlikely to rise with the same intensity, the experts said, helped by vaccination and booster drives, previous infection, milder variants and the availability of highly effective COVID treatments.

“The people who are at greatest risk are those who have never seen the virus, and there’s almost nobody left,” said Murray.

These forecasts raise new questions about when countries will move out of the COVID emergency phase and into a state of endemic disease, where communities with high vaccination rates see smaller outbreaks, possibly on a seasonal basis.

Many experts had predicted that transition would begin in early 2022, but the arrival of the highly mutated Omicron variant of coronavirus disrupted those expectations.

“We need to set aside the idea of ‘is the pandemic over?'” said Adam Kucharski, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He and others see COVID morphing into an endemic threat that still causes a high burden of disease.

“Someone once told me the definition of endemicity is that life just gets a bit worse,” he added.

The potential wild card remains whether a new variant will emerge that out-competes currently dominant Omicron subvariants.

If that variant also causes more severe disease and is better able to evade prior immunity, that would be the “worst-case scenario,” according to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) Europe report.

“All scenarios (with new variants) indicate the potential for a large future wave at a level that is as bad or worse than the 2020/2021 epidemic waves,” said the report, based on a model from Imperial College of London.

CONFOUNDING FACTORS

Many of the disease experts interviewed by Reuters said that making forecasts for COVID has become much harder, as many people rely on rapid at-home tests that are not reported to government health officials, obscuring infection rates.

BA.5, the Omicron subvariant that is currently causing infections to peak in many regions, is extremely transmissible, meaning that many patients hospitalized for other illnesses may test positive for it and be counted among severe cases, even if COVID-19 is not the source of their distress.

Scientists said other unknowns complicating their forecasts include whether a combination of vaccination and COVID infection – so-called hybrid immunity – is providing greater protection for people, as well as how effective booster campaigns may be.

“Anyone who says they can predict the future of this pandemic is either overconfident or lying,” said David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Experts also are closely watching developments in Australia, where a resurgent flu season combined with COVID is overwhelming hospitals. They say it is possible that Western nations could see a similar pattern after several quiet flu seasons.

“If it happens there, it can happen here. Let’s prepare for a proper flu season,” said John McCauley, director of the Worldwide Influenza Centre at the Francis Crick Institute in London.

The WHO has said each country still needs to approach new waves with all the tools in the pandemic armory – from vaccinations to interventions, such as testing and social distancing or masking.

Israel’s government recently halted routine COVID testing of travelers at its international airport, but is ready to resume the practice “within days” if faced with a major surge, said Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of the country’s public health service.

“When there is a wave of infections, we need to put masks on, we need to test ourselves,” she said. “That’s living with COVID.”

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Reporting by Jennifer Rigby and Julie Steenhuysen; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Bill Berkrot

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Health

‘Living with COVID’: Where the pandemic could go next

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LONDON/CHICAGO, Aug 1 (Reuters) – As the third winter of the coronavirus pandemic looms in the northern hemisphere, scientists are warning weary governments and populations alike to brace for more waves of COVID-19.

In the United States alone, there could be up to a million infections a day this winter, Chris Murray, head of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent modeling group at the University of Washington that has been tracking the pandemic, told Reuters. That would be around double the current daily tally.

Across the United Kingdom and Europe, scientists predict a series of COVID waves, as people spend more time indoors during the colder months, this time with nearly no masking or social distancing restrictions in place.

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However, while cases may surge again in the coming months, deaths and hospitalizations are unlikely to rise with the same intensity, the experts said, helped by vaccination and booster drives, previous infection, milder variants and the availability of highly effective COVID treatments.

“The people who are at greatest risk are those who have never seen the virus, and there’s almost nobody left,” said Murray.

These forecasts raise new questions about when countries will move out of the COVID emergency phase and into a state of endemic disease, where communities with high vaccination rates see smaller outbreaks, possibly on a seasonal basis.

Many experts had predicted that transition would begin in early 2022, but the arrival of the highly mutated Omicron variant of coronavirus disrupted those expectations.

“We need to set aside the idea of ‘is the pandemic over?'” said Adam Kucharski, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He and others see COVID morphing into an endemic threat that still causes a high burden of disease.

“Someone once told me the definition of endemicity is that life just gets a bit worse,” he added.

The potential wild card remains whether a new variant will emerge that out-competes currently dominant Omicron subvariants.

If that variant also causes more severe disease and is better able to evade prior immunity, that would be the “worst-case scenario,” according to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) Europe report.

“All scenarios (with new variants) indicate the potential for a large future wave at a level that is as bad or worse than the 2020/2021 epidemic waves,” said the report, based on a model from Imperial College of London.

CONFOUNDING FACTORS

Many of the disease experts interviewed by Reuters said that making forecasts for COVID has become much harder, as many people rely on rapid at-home tests that are not reported to government health officials, obscuring infection rates.

BA.5, the Omicron subvariant that is currently causing infections to peak in many regions, is extremely transmissible, meaning that many patients hospitalized for other illnesses may test positive for it and be counted among severe cases, even if COVID-19 is not the source of their distress.

Scientists said other unknowns complicating their forecasts include whether a combination of vaccination and COVID infection – so-called hybrid immunity – is providing greater protection for people, as well as how effective booster campaigns may be.

“Anyone who says they can predict the future of this pandemic is either overconfident or lying,” said David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Experts also are closely watching developments in Australia, where a resurgent flu season combined with COVID is overwhelming hospitals. They say it is possible that Western nations could see a similar pattern after several quiet flu seasons.

“If it happens there, it can happen here. Let’s prepare for a proper flu season,” said John McCauley, director of the Worldwide Influenza Centre at the Francis Crick Institute in London.

The WHO has said each country still needs to approach new waves with all the tools in the pandemic armory – from vaccinations to interventions, such as testing and social distancing or masking.

Israel’s government recently halted routine COVID testing of travelers at its international airport, but is ready to resume the practice “within days” if faced with a major surge, said Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of the country’s public health service.

“When there is a wave of infections, we need to put masks on, we need to test ourselves,” she said. “That’s living with COVID.”

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Reporting by Jennifer Rigby and Julie Steenhuysen; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Bill Berkrot

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

U.S. drops COVID testing for incoming international air travelers

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WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) – The United States late Friday rescinded a 17-month-old requirement that people arriving in the country by air test negative for COVID-19, a move that follows intense lobbying by airlines and the travel industry.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky issued a four-page order lifting the mandate, effective at 12:01 a.m. ET (0400 GMT) Sunday, saying it is “not currently necessary.”

The requirement had been one of the last major U.S. COVID-19 travel requirements. Its end comes as the summer travel season kicks off, and airlines were already preparing for record demand. Airlines have said that many Americans have not been not traveling internationally because of concerns they will test positive and be stranded abroad.

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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the CDC decision is based on science and available data, and said the agency “will not hesitate to reinstate a pre-departure testing requirement, if needed later.”

The CDC will reassess the decision in 90 days, an administration official said.

The United States has required incoming international air travelers to provide pre-departure negative tests since January 2021. In December the CDC tightened the rule to require travelers to test negative within one day before flights to the United States rather than three days.

The CDC has not required testing for land border crossings.

Many countries in Europe and elsewhere have already dropped testing requirements.

An American Airlines Boeing 777 plane takes off from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy-en-France near Paris, France, December 2, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo

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The CDC is still requiring most non-U.S. citizens to be vaccinated against COVID to travel to the United States.

Two officials told Reuters the Biden administration had considered lifting the testing rule only for vaccinated travelers.

JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) Chief Executive Robin Hayes told Reuters on Friday that the testing requirement was “the last obstacle to a really full international travel recovery,” saying that it “served no purpose anymore.”

IATA, the world’s biggest airline trade group, said it was “great news” that the administration is “removing the ineffective pre-departure COVID test for travel to the US.”

In April, a federal judge declared the CDC’s requirements that travelers wear masks on airplanes and in transit hubs like airports unlawful and the Biden administration stopped enforcing it. The Justice Department has appealed the order, but no decision is likely before fall at the earliest.

The CDC continues to recommend travelers wear masks and get COVID-19 tests before and after international flights.

Raymond James said in a research note that lifting the restrictions “is an important catalyst for international travel.”

Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) Chief Executive Ed Bastian told Reuters last week that dropping the requirements will boost travel, noting that 44 of 50 countries Delta serves do not require testing.

U.S. Travel Association CEO Roger Dow said Friday’s move will “accelerate the recovery of the U.S. travel industry,” which was hard hit by the pandemic.

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Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Elon Musk tells Tesla staff: return to office or leave

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June 1 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk has asked employees to return to the office or leave the company, according to an email sent to employees on Tuesday night and seen by Reuters.

“Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week,” Musk said in the email.

“If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned.”

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Two sources confirmed the authenticity of the email reviewed by Reuters. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

Major tech firms in Silicon Valley do not require workers to return to the office full-time, in the face of resistance from some workers and a resurgence of coronavirus cases.

Tesla has moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas, but has one of its factories and its engineering base in the San Francisco Bay area.

“There are of course companies that don’t require this, but when was the last time they shipped a great new product? It’s been a while,” Musk said in the email.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory groundbreaking ceremony in Shanghai, China January 7, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song

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“Tesla has and will create and actually manufacture the most exciting and meaningful products of any company on Earth. This will not happen by phoning it in.”

One of Musk’s Twitter followers posted another email that Musk apparently sent to executives asking them to work in the office for at least 40 hours per week or “depart Tesla.”

In response to this tweet, the billionaire, who has agreed to take Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) private in a $44 billion deal, said, “They should pretend to work somewhere else.”

In May 2020, Musk reopened a Tesla factory in Fremont, California, defying Alameda County’s lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Tesla reported 440 cases at the factory from May to December 2020, according to county data obtained by legal information site Plainsite.

Last year, Musk’s rocket company SpaceX reported 132 COVID-19 cases at its headquarters in the Los Angeles-area city of Hawthorne, according to county data.

While some big employers have embraced voluntary work-from-home policies permanently, others, including Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google, are betting that it is best to push in-person interactions among colleagues.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted in March that Twitter offices would be reopening but employees could still work from home if they preferred.

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Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru and ; Editing by Anil D’Silva, Howard Goller and Jonathan Oatis

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World

Japan to allow limited tour groups from May as step to full re-opening

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Tourists wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are seen at Asakusa district in Tokyo, Japan March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Ju-min Park/File Photo

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TOKYO, May 17 (Reuters) – Japan said on Tuesday it would start conducting “test tourism” in the form of limited package tours in May as a way of gathering information prior to a full re-opening of the country to tourism.

Though tourism was a major pillar of Japan’s economy, tourists have not been permitted to enter since it adopted strict border controls in 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Regulations have been loosened slightly to allow students and some business travellers to enter. But, individual tourists remain barred despite calls from industry leaders hoping to restart tourism to take advantage of the yen, which has fallen to 20-year lows.

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The Tourism Agency said on Tuesday that it would start allowing small group tours to enter from later this month as “test cases” to gain information for a broader resumption of tourism at an unspecified future date.

Tourists who have been triple-vaccinated and come from the United States, Australia, Thailand and Singapore will be allowed to take part in the tours, which will be strictly planned in conjunction with travel agencies and accompanied at all times by tour conductors, it added in a statement.

“This venture will allow us to verify compliance and emergency responses for infection prevention and formulate guidelines for travel agencies and accommodation operators to keep in mind,” it said.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said earlier this month during a speech in London that he would bring Japan’s border controls into line with other wealthy democracies in June, but no further details have been given, including when the country will fully open its borders to tourists again.

The government is aiming for a “phased relaxation” of border measures that balances infection controls and ease of entry into the country, said Makoto Shimoaraiso, a Cabinet Secretariat official for Japan’s COVID-19 response.

“We are currently discussing concrete plans for border measures after June, including quarantine measures such as testing and standby (status),” he added.

In 2019, Japan hosted 31.9 million foreign visitors, who spent 4.81 trillion yen.

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Reporting by Elaine Lies and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Christian Schmollinger

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US

U.S. will no longer enforce mask mandate on airplanes, trains after court ruling

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WASHINGTON/CHICAGO, April 18 (Reuters) – The Biden administration will no longer enforce a U.S. mask mandate on public transportation, after a federal judge in Florida on Monday ruled that the 14-month-old directive was unlawful, overturning a key White House effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Soon after the announcement, all major carriers including American Airlines (AAL.O), United Airlines (UAL.O) and Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), as well as national train line Amtrak relaxed the restrictions effective immediately. read more

Last week, U.S. health officials had extended the mandate to May 3 requiring travelers to wear masks on airplanes, trains, and in taxis, ride-share vehicles or transit hubs, saying they needed time to assess the impact of a recent rise in COVID-19 cases caused by the airborne coronavirus. read more

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Industry groups and Republican lawmakers balked and wanted the administration to end the 14-month-old mask mandate permanently.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, an appointee of President Donald Trump, came in a lawsuit filed last year in Tampa, Florida, by a group called the Health Freedom Defense Fund. It follows a string of rulings against Biden administration directives to fight the infectious disease that has killed nearly one million Americans, including vaccine or test mandates for employers.

Judge Mizelle said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had exceeded its authority with the mandate, had not sought public comment and did not adequately explain its decisions.

A U.S. administration official said while the agencies were assessing potential next steps, the court’s decision meant CDC’s public transportation masking order was no longer in effect. The administration could still opt to appeal the order or seek an emergency delay in the order’s enforcement.

“Therefore, TSA will not enforce its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time,” the official said in a statement.

“CDC recommends that people continue to wear masks in indoor public transportation settings.”

The Transportation Security Administration said it will rescind the new Security Directives that were scheduled to take effect on Tuesday.

The ruling comes as COVID-19 infections rise again in the United States, with 36,251 new infections reported on average each day, and 460 daily deaths, based on a seven-day average – the highest number of reported total COVID-19 deaths in the world.

The White House called the ruling “disappointing.”

The CDC first issued a public health order requiring masks in interstate transportation in February 2021. The TSA issued a security directive to enforce the CDC order.

The CDC and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declined to comment.

United Airlines, American, Delta, Southwest Airlines (LUV.N), JetBlue (JBLU.O) and Alaska Airlines (ALK.N) said masks are now optional on their planes.

“We are relieved to see the U.S. mask mandate lift to facilitate global travel as COVID-19 has transitioned to an ordinary seasonal virus,” Delta said. The World Health Organization warned against comparing the virus to an endemic illness like the flu earlier this year, noting it is evolving too quickly.

The move could impact travel demand, which has roared back after a blip caused by the Omicron coronavirus variant. U.S. passenger traffic has been averaging about 89% of the pre-pandemic levels since mid-February, according to TSA data.

With the COVID-19 case count rising again, lifting the mandate could make some passengers wary, while prompting others to fly again.

Only 36% of Americans think it’s time for people to stop using masks and quarantines so that life can get back to normal after COVID-19, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between Jan. 31 and Feb. 7. However, while a mere 16% of Democrats hold this view, a whopping 60% of Republicans do, according to the poll.

Delta Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian last week acknowledged the risk, but said the airline still expected its flights to be full.

“It’s a question of individual accountability, personal accountability, making your own decisions rather than the government making decisions for people as to how to stay well,” Bastian told Reuters in an interview.

On Monday, Delta asked its employees to show “understanding and patience” as the unexpected nature of the announcement could result in “inconsistent” enforcement.

Since January 2021, there have been a record 7,060 unruly passenger incidents reported, 70% involving masking rules, according to the FAA. Thousands of passengers have been put on “no-fly” lists for refusing to comply with masking requirements.

Alaska said some passengers will remain banned, even after the mask policy is rescinded.

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Reporting by David Shepardson, Mike Stone, Jeff Mason and Jason Lange in Washington and Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago; Writing by Chris Sanders and Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Nick Macfie, Heather Timmons, Bill Berkrot and Bernard Orr

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World

Hong Kong to ease strict COVID measures from April, lifts flight ban

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HONG KONG, March 21 (Reuters) – Hong Kong plans to relax some anti-COVID-19 measures next month, lifting a ban on flights from nine countries, reducing quarantine for arrivals from abroad and reopening schools.

The moves, announced on Monday by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, come after a backlash from businesses and residents who see the rest of the world shifting to “living with the virus”.

Residents in the Chinese ruled territory have become increasingly frustrated with the stringent measures, many of which have been in place for over two years.

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A ban on flights from Australia, Britain, Canada, France, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and the United States would be lifted from April 1.

“The flight ban is no longer timely and appropriate…it will bring huge disturbances to Hong Kong people who are stuck in these nine countries if we continue the ban,” Lam told a news briefing.

Hotel quarantine for arrivals could be cut to seven days from 14 if residents tested negative, Lam said. She had previously said measures would be in place until April 20.

Schools would resume face to face classes from April 19, after the Easter holidays while public venues including sports facilities would also reopen from April 21, she said.

Hong Kong’s border has effectively been shut since 2020 with few flights able to land and hardly any passengers allowed to transit, isolating a city that had built a reputation as a global financial hub.

Businesses and the city’s economy are reeling from widespread closures, while doctors say many of the city’s 7.4 million residents are grappling with rising mental health issues, particularly among low income families.

Lam’s policy turnaround comes after her administration has been scolded repeatedly by politicians, pro-Beijing media and on Chinese social media, just weeks before the city is due to hold an election on May 8 to choose who will lead the territory for the next five years.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a news conference at the government headquarters in Hong Kong, China March 9, 2022. Peter Parks/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

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She declined to comment on whether she will run for a new term.

EXIT STRATEGY

A plan to carry out mass coronavirus testing would be put on hold, Lam said, citing experts who said it was not a suitable time. Hong Kong needs to have a clear exit strategy rather than trying to completely eradicate the virus, experts said.

While the former British colony has officially stuck to the “dynamic zero” coronavirus policy, similar to mainland China, which seeks to curb all outbreaks, it has been shifting to mitigation strategies as deaths skyrocketed.

Hong Kong has registered the most deaths per million people globally in recent weeks – more than 24 times that of rival Singapore – due to a large proportion of elderly who were unvaccinated as the highly transmissible Omicron variant ripped through care homes since February.

The densely packed city has recorded more than 1 million infections since the pandemic started and about 5,000 deaths – most of them in the past month.

As many as 4 million people could be infected according to estimates from health experts as many residents have contracted the virus and isolated at home without notifying authorities.

Lam said social distancing measures would be eased in phases starting April 21, allowing restaurant dining after 6 p.m. with tables of four people from two currently.

Nightclubs, pubs and beaches would be allowed to open in the second phase while people would be allowed to exercise outdoors without a mask. Masks are currently compulsory everywhere outside the home.

Until this year, Hong Kong had been far more successful at controlling the coronavirus than many other cities its size, but the latest wave of infections swamped its world class medical system, morgues are overflowing and public confidence in the city government is at an all-time low. read more

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Reporting by Farah Master, Twinnie Siu, Jessie Pang, Anne Marie Roantree and Queenie Garcia; Editing by Christopher Cushing & Simon Cameron-Moore

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World

‘Welcome back world!’: Australia fully reopens borders after two years

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A Singapore Airlines plane arriving from Singapore lands at the international terminal at Sydney Airport, as countries react to the new coronavirus Omicron variant amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Sydney, Australia, November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

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SYDNEY, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Australia on Monday fully reopened its international borders to travellers vaccinated against the coronavirus after nearly two years of pandemic-related closings as tourists returned and hundreds of people were reunited with family and friends.

More than 50 international flights will reach the country through the day, including 27 touching down in Sydney, its largest city, as the tourism and hospitality sectors look to rebuild after getting hammered by COVID-19 restrictions.

“It is a very exciting day, one that I have been looking forward to for a long time, from the day that I first shut that border right at the start of the pandemic,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in the island state of Tasmania, which relies heavily on tourism.

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After being away from loved ones for months there were many emotional reunions, including for Cindy Moss who travelled from the U.S. state of Kentucky to see her daughter.

“I just haven’t seen her in so long and it was such a big thing to be able to get over here. So I’m so excited,” she said after hugging her daughter, her voice cracking with emotion.

Tourism is one of Australia’s biggest industries, worth more than A$60 billion ($43 billion) and employing about 5% of the country’s workforce. But the sector was crippled after the country shut its borders in March 2020.

Once a champion of COVID-suppression strategy, Australia shifted away from its fortress-style controls and relentless lockdowns since late last year and began living with the virus after reaching higher vaccination levels. Skilled migrants, international students and backpackers have been allowed to fly into Australia since November in a staggered reopening exercise.

“IT’S A PARTY OUT HERE”

Passengers flying to Sydney were greeted from the air with “Welcome Back World!” painted on a sign near the runways while people in kangaroo costumes welcomed travellers and a DJ played music from a van festooned with a banner saying “You were worth the wait”.

“It is a party out here, music playing, smiles on people’s faces, they will be dancing soon, I’m sure,” Tourism Minister Dan Tehan told broadcaster ABC from Sydney airport as he gave travellers gift jars of Vegemite, an iconic Australian food spread, and stuffed koala toys.

Tehan said he was hopeful for a “very strong” rebound in the tourism market, with Qantas (QAN.AX) looking to fly more than 14,000 passengers into Australia this week. Virgin Australia said it was seeing positive trends in domestic bookings and continued to assess demand for international flights.

All trains in Sydney, meanwhile, were cancelled on Monday after pay disputes between the union and the state government, taking some shine off the reopening.

As borders fully reopen, Australia’s outbreak of the Omicron coronavirus variant appears to have passed its peak with hospital admissions steadily falling over the past three weeks. The bulk of Australia’s pandemic total of about 2.7 million confirmed cases has been detected since the emergence of Omicron in late November. Total deaths stood at 4,929.

Just over 17,000 new cases and 17 deaths were registered by midday on Monday with theNorthern Territory due to report later.

($1 = 1.3959 Australian dollars)

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Reporting by Renju Jose, Byron Kaye, James Redmayne and Cordelia Hsu; Editing by Grant McCool, Gerry Doyle and Christian Schmollinger

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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