Australia’s most populous state of New South Walessaw its first nurses’ strike in nearly a decade on Tuesday. Nurses said they wanted better pay for their jobs and a better balance between their numbers and patients requiring their services.
Brad Hazzard, NSW’s health minister, said the strikes were “unfortunate” and “disappointing,” especially because they came in defiance of a last-minute state order that asked nurses to call off their protest over risks to public health.
Thousands of nurses and midwives protested at the parliament building in Sydney in solidarity.
They carried placards reading “Need more nurses now” and “Stop telling us to cope.”
Cases have been steadily falling in Australia, but frustration from an overwhelming surge of omicron infections over the last few months remains.
Australia recorded nearly 2.4 million cases after the first case of omicron was detected last November. The total number of confirmed COVID cases stands at around 2.6 million, and the total number of deaths at 4,664.
The country, which is set to open borders to vaccinated international travelers from February 21 after nearly two years, on Tuesday reported just over 24,900 cases in the previous 24 hours.
Here are the latest major developments on coronavirus from around the world.
Asia
The leader of Hong Kong has said a surge of coronavirus cases is overwhelming the city’s emergency resources.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam, however ruled out a hard lockdown. “We have no plans whatsoever to impose a complete, wholesale lockdown,” she told reporters.
Daily infections have surged by about 20 times over the past two weeks.
Lam said she could not “preclude” the possibility of postponing next month’s chief executive election.
Travel giant Trip.com Group will allow staff to work from home for two days a week.
It is the first tech company in China to introduce such a hybrid work policy.
The company’s executive chairman, James Liang, said the practice was good for morale and encouraged other Chinese companies to adopt it.
During a trial last year, the company found that staff turnover fell by one-third with no significant impact on performance, while nearly 19 out of 20 employees said the change helped improve their efficiency.
Europe
The World Health Organization has warned that Eastern Europe is about to be hit by a new wave of the omicron variant.
Over the past two weeks, cases of COVID-19 have more than doubled in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine, WHO’s Europe regional director Dr. Hans Kluge said in a statement.
Kluge urged authorities to improve vaccination and other measures.
Tennis star Novak Djokovic of Serbia has said
he would rather miss the French Open, Wimbledon and any tournament rather than being forced to get the coronavirus vaccine.
Djokovic told the BBC that he is not against vaccines, but wants “the freedom to choose what you put into your body.”
The Netherlands is dropping most COVID-19 measures, including social distancing, mask-wearing and the coronavirus passport by the end of the month.
Some restrictions will remain for large gatherings such as festivals and nightclubs.
Americas
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada invoked never-before used emergency powers to quash demonstrations against COVID restrictions.
The Emergencies Act allows the federal government to bar people from gathering in specific locations.
Trudeau vowed it would be time-limited and only apply to specific geographic regions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States has advised against travel to six countries and territories, including South Korea, Azerbaijan and Belarus, due to widespread COVID-19 infections.
The additions to the country’s “very high” risk Level 4 category also included Comoros, French Polynesia and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, off Canada’s east coast.
In total, the CDC has listed about 140 countries and territories at the highest warning level, including Canada, Europe and almost all of Latin America.
lo,rm/dj (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
COVID digest: Thousands of nurses strike in Australia for higher wages
Source: Pinoy Pop News
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