Skip to main content

Australia eases lockdown restrictions

Pakistan News & Features Services

Australia, a paradise on earth, has reopened as the country has relaxed coronavirus restrictions after a drop in the death rate. The states of Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia have eased up the restrictions while New South Wales and Victoria, the two biggest states having enforced the strictest lockdown, don’t plan on lifting these measures until mid-May. 

Australia, into its second month of COVID-19 lockdowns with every state enforcing physical distancing law slightly differently, has witnessed consistently low numbers of new infections leading to the relaxation in a few rules. 

However, the Australians, for most part, are still required to stay at home unless they have crucial work, shopping or exercise reasons as the leaders reckoned that there was no fast and easy way to return to a ‘pre-coronavirus’ norm. 

The Western Australians now have been allowed the freedom to enjoy picnics in the park, fishing, boating, hiking and camping as they brought about changing rules of coronavirus lockdown. 

Western Australia and South Australia have also expanded the national two person limit on gatherings to 10 people but meet-ups still have to be for essential reasons like weddings which were previously restricted to five people. 

In states like Queensland, people can now go shopping again for fashion, have a picnic in the park or go for a swim at the beach. The residents can do all of these activities as long as it is within a 40 minute drive from home. The beaches were never closed but people can now lie on the sand in groups of 10 as long as they observe social distancing.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ambassador explains Chinese role in curbing COVID-19

By Masood Sattar Khan  (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing, attended the preparation and response plan of the new crown epidemic on April 24. According to the details shared by the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, Ambassador Yao Jing was invited to attend the Pakistan New Crown Outbreak Preparation and Response Plan (PPRP) on video conference. The meeting, organized by the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was also attended by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister of Economic Affairs, Khasro Bakhtiar, Prime Minister’s Health Adviser Dr Zafar Mirza, Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, General Muhammad Afzal, WHO Director-General, Tan Desai besides the representatives of World Bank, United Nations, UNICEF, UNHCR, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and envoys from more than 20 countries.  Besides China, envoys from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, the European Unio...

Corona field facility at Karachi Expo Centre may admit patients now

By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) The 1,200-bed field isolation centre at the Karachi Expo Centre, on April 6, will open its doors for new COVID-19 infected patients of Karachi and other parts of Sindh who will be referred to it by designated tertiary care hospitals, as the diseases infected another 51 people in six districts of Sindh on April 5.  A source in the provincial health department informed PNFS that authorities have decided not to overburden the designated tertiary care health facilities in terms of corona cases further.  The hospitals have now been asked to admit only new severely ill COVID-19 patients or those seeking intensive cares, while the rest will present at the newly established Expo Centre isolation facility, where the Sindh health department has deployed its doctors, paramedics and other human resources, the source added. Through a letter of the health department, all the district health officers of Karachi division have been asked ...

Khumar Farooqui passes away

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Noted poet and writer, Masroor Alam Farooqui, famously known as Khumar Farooqui, passed away in Karachi after a brief illness. He was 71. He has left behind a widow, two sons and two daughters besides grandsons and granddaughters to mourn his death. Khumar Farooqui was born at Agra, British India, in 1942. Upon migration to Pakistan, he did his MA and LL.B from Rawalpindi. He joined government service at the Federal Bureau of Statistics from where he retired as the Chief Statistical Officer. A born poet, Khumar Farooqui joined the Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology (SSUET), Karachi, as a consultant and worked in its Literary and Cultural Forum headed by Late Brig (Rtd) Qamarussalam after whose death he became the convener of the forum. He used to attend mushairas at national and international levels. His poetry ...