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JUNE 22 (GMT) – JUNE 23 (AEST), 2020

AUSTRALIAUKNORTH AMERICA

Hundreds positive at meat plant

Tyson Foods is looking into reports that China’s customs agency has suspended poultry imports from a Tyson facility in the United States after coronavirus cases were confirmed among its employees. A Tyson spokesman said that the plant in question is in Springdale, Arkansas. “At Tyson, we’re confident our products are safe and we’re hopeful consultations between the US and Chinese governments will resolve this matter,” spokesman Gary Mickelson said.

NYC tracing off to bumpy start

New York City’s effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus through contact tracing has been hampered by the reluctance of many people who are infected with the virus to provide information to tracers, according to a report in The New York Times. The Times report said just 35 per cent of residents who tested positive or were presumed positive for COVID-19 in the first two weeks of the contact tracing program gave information about their contacts.

State ramps up virus compliance

Victorian authorities will doorknock in coronavirus hotspots to ensure residents understand enforcement guidelines, while not ruling out tighter lockdowns. Following a spike in positive cases that prompted a national warning against travel to six Melbourne local council areas, the state government has ramped up communication efforts.

PM, scientists mull easing rules

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will discuss reopening the hospitality sector and loosening the two-metre social-distancing rule in England with his top Cabinet colleagues and scientists. The Prime Minister and his most senior ministers will discuss the next steps for the lockdown with chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty.

Tributes for terror attack victims

Tributes have been paid to victims of the Reading terror attack as two of those who died have been named. Three people were killed in the incident which happened in Forbury Gardens in the town centre on the weekend. James Furlong, 36, was head of history, government and politics at The Holt School in Wokingham, and died after the attack. The second victim has been named locally as American citizen Joe Ritchie-Bennett.

Two new COVID-19 cases

There are two new Covid-19 cases in managed isolation facilities, the Ministry of Health has confirmed. Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the first case is a teenage girl who arrived on in New Zealand on 13 June and was travelling with her family, who have tested negative so far. The teenager has been staying at the Novotel Auckland Airport hotel.

NEW ZEALANDUKNORTH AMERICA

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 3

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JUNE 22 (GMT) – JUNE 23 (AEST), 2020

AUSTRALIAUKASIA

Korean tension over leaflets

South Korea is urging North Korea to scrap a plan to launch propaganda leaflets across the border, after the North said it’s ready to float 12 million leaflets in what would be the largest such psychological campaign against its southern rival. Animosities on the Korean Peninsula rose sharply last week, after North Korea destroyed an inter-Korean liaison office on its territory in anger over South Korean civilian leafleting against it.

Schoolkids drown in river

Eight children have drowned in a river in southwestern China after one fell in and the others jumped in to help, state media says. The children, described as elementary-school age, had gone to play at a beach on the Fu River, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Their bodies have been recovered.

Cruise victim told ‘only the flu’

A woman who died from COVID-19 after disembarking the Ruby Princess cruise ship had been told repeatedly by onboard health authorities she had the flu and it was “nothing to worry about”, an inquiry has been told. Lesley Bacon was first struck down with “horrendous pain” in her left leg on March 12 and attended the ship’s medical clinic feeling less well four days later. Brian Bacon was told his wife had the flu and would be kept in the vessel’s clinic overnight.

Kitten lockdown boom expected

Thousands of extra kittens could be born this summer due to lockdown restrictions, with animal welfare charities already feeling the strain of the “kitten crisis”. Cat owners are being urged to keep female cats indoors as the number of kittens being born is expected to rise, with the seasonal boom exacerbated by the UK’s lockdown restrictions. Around 84,000 extra kittens could be born because fewer vets are carrying out neutering procedures.

Trial for simple virus test

The Government is piloting a coronavirus saliva test that could become an alternative to the existing invasive, and sometimes painful, deep nasal and throat swab. The new test only requires the individual to spit into a sample pot to be tested for current COVID-19 infection, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.

Cruise ships banned, tests

The government is extending a ban on cruise ships and updating its health order to make clear that travellers may be required to take multiple tests, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. The Prime Minister revealed the moves at her weekly post-Cabinet media briefing. Ardern said the government has renewed its health order and included a new measure to clarify that incoming people must return a negative test before leaving quarantine.

NEW ZEALANDUKASIA

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 6

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JUNE 22 (GMT) – JUNE 23 (AEST), 2020

NORTH AMERICA

People gather as part of Make Music-New York in Brooklyn’s Ditmas Park neighborhood

during the coronavirus outbreak. - AP

New York City tracing off to bumpy startNew York City’s effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus through contact tracing has been hampered by the reluctance of many people who are infected with the virus to provide information to tracers, according to a report in The New York Times.

The Times report said just 35 per cent of the 5347 city residents who tested positive or were presumed positive for COVID-19 in the first two weeks of the contact tracing program gave information about their close contacts.

Perry N. Halkitis, dean of the School of Public Health at Rutgers University, called the 35 per cent rate for eliciting contacts “very bad.”

“For each person, you should be in touch with 75 per cent of their contacts within a day,” Halkitis said.

Dr. Ted Long, head of New York City’s new Test and Trace Corps, defended the program and said 69 per cent of the people who complete an interview provide contacts. “We think that’s a strong start but we also do want to get that number up,” Long said.

Long said the 35 per cent figure cited by the Times represents a per centage everyone who the tracers reached, and some of those people, including some who have not had COVID-19 symptoms for weeks, don’t have relevant contacts to provide.

Long said he believes the program, which started June 1, will be more successful when tracers start going to people’s homes in the next week or two rather than relying on the phone.

New York City has made huge strides in containing the outbreak since the coronavirus shutdown started in March, with more than 320 new cases reported on Thursday, down from several thousand a day during the peak. But officials say the contact tracing effort is crucial to preventing a resurgence as the city enters the second phase of easing coronavirus restrictions on Monday, including outdoor dining at restaurants and in-store retail shopping. ■

Tyson Foods, workers wear protective masks and stand between plastic dividers a poultry

processing plant. - AP

NORTH AMERICA

Hundreds test positive for virus at meat plantTyson Foods is looking into reports that China’s customs agency has suspended poultry imports from a Tyson facility in the United States after coronavirus cases were confirmed among its employees.

A Tyson spokesman said that the plant in question is in Springdale, Arkansas.

“At Tyson, we’re confident our products are safe and we’re hopeful consultations between the US and Chinese governments will resolve this matter,” spokesman Gary Mickelson said.

“Our top priority is the health and safety of our team members, and we work closely with the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to ensure that we produce all of our food in full compliance with government safety requirements,” the statement added.

Mickelson also noted that all global and US health organizations, in addition to the US Food & Drug Administration, agree that there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food.

The announcement out of China gave no details of the quantity of meat affected.

Earlier, Tyson Foods announced the results of coronavirus testing at its facilities in Benton and Washington Counties, Arkansas, and said that about 95 per cent of employees who ultimately tested positive for the virus didn’t show any symptoms. Of the 3,748 employees tested, 481 tested positive for COVID-19, and 455 were asymptomatic.

There have been several other COVID-19 outbreaks at Tyson plants around the United States, including in North Carolina, Nebraska, and Iowa.

In November, China lifted a five-year ban on US poultry. China had blocked US poultry imports a month after an outbreak of avian influenza in December 2014, closing off a market that brought more than $500 million worth of American chicken, turkey and other poultry products in 2013. ■

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JUNE 22 (GMT) – JUNE 23 (AEST), 2020

UK

People lay flowers near Forbury Gardens, in Reading town centre, the scene of a deadly

stabbing attack. - PA

Tributes paid to victims of Reading terror attack Tributes have been paid to victims of the Reading terror attack as two of those who died have been named.

Three people were killed in the incident which happened in Forbury Gardens in the town centre on the weekend.

James Furlong, 36, was head of history, government and politics at The Holt School in Wokingham, and died after the attack.

Furlong was originally from Liverpool and had taught in the city as part of his career before taking a position at the Berkshire school.

His parents, Gary and Janet, released a statement through Thames Valley Police which said: “James was a wonderful man. He was beautiful, intelligent, honest and fun.

“He was the best son, brother, uncle and partner you could wish for. We are thankful for the memories he gave us all. We will never forget him and he will live in our hearts forever.”

The second victim has been named locally as American citizen Joe Ritchie-Bennett.

The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reported that he was 39 and had moved to England from the US around 15 years ago.

Paying tribute to his brother, Robert Ritchie, a captain in the Philadelphia police force, told the paper: “I love him. I always have. I always will. He was a great guy.”

US Ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson confirmed an American citizen was one of those killed in the atrocity.

Johnson tweeted: “I offer my deepest condolences to the families of those killed in the attack on June 20.

“To our great sorrow, this includes an American citizen. Our thoughts are with all those affected.

“We condemn the attack absolutely and have offered our assistance to British law enforcement.”

According to tributes posted on social media, Ritchie-Bennett was friends with Furlong, and his Facebook page said he was originally from Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, but had been living in Reading. ■

Shoppers observe social distancing as they queue outside Selfridges, on Oxford Street,

London. - PA

UK

Johnson, scientists mull easing rulesBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson will discuss reopening the hospitality sector and loosening the two-metre social-distancing rule in England with his top Cabinet colleagues and scientists.

The Prime Minister and his most senior ministers will discuss the next steps for the lockdown with chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty.

Johnson will then, on the next day, outline the plans to Parliament for pubs, restaurants, hotels and hairdressers to reopen in England from July 4, and a likely loosening of the distance rule to aid the restart to the economy.

Earlier, the PM said the progress made in the fight against coronavirus during three months of lockdown mean “it will be possible to open up more”.

“The disease is increasingly under control and I just want people to reflect on that important fact,” he added in a Downing Street interview.

Guidance will be published for each sector on how businesses can reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they reopen.

And the public are expected to be warned that the newest relaxation of rules will be the first to be reversed if there are widespread breaches that prompt the virus to spread uncontrollably.

A No 10 spokesman said: “The reason we are able to move forward this week is because the vast majority of people have taken steps to contain the virus.

“The more we open up, the more important it is that everyone follows the social-distancing rules.

“We will not hesitate to put the handbrake on to stop the virus running out of control.”

With the two-metre rule placing severe constraints on the hospitality sector, it looks increasingly likely to be reduced as long as other mitigations – such as face coverings – can be used to help prevent a second wave of COVID-19 infections. ■

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JUNE 22 (GMT) – JUNE 23 (AEST), 2020

NEW ZEALAND

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. - RNZ

Two new virus cases in isolation centresThere are two new Covid-19 cases in managed isolation facilities, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the first case is a teenage girl who arrived on in New Zealand on 13 June and was travelling with her family, who have tested negative so far.

The teenager has been staying at the Novotel Auckland Airport hotel.

A New Zealander in isolation at the Auckland Airport Novotel yesterday said they were all in lockdown after being told of a new case at the hotel. However, the prime minister’s office, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Health all declined to comment ahead of today’s media briefing.

Dr Bloomfield said the teenager’s only symptom was a runny nose. She had travelled from Doha via Melbourne on one of the same flights identified last week.

The second case is a man in his 30s who arrived from India on 15 June, he has been staying at the Grand Millennium in Auckland and has no symptoms. His wife also has no symptoms but is being followed up with.

This brings the total number of active cases in New Zealand to nine.

Labs completed 3402 tests yesterday. There were 430 tests across managed isolation facilities.

Dr Bloomfield said anyone who left a managed isolation facility since 9 June is being or has been followed up with a test.

Dr Bloomfield said there were 55 people granted compassionate exemptions, and only one has not been followed up with.

Four of those were children who were not tested, but all others have returned a negative test.

All staff at the Novotel Ellerslie hotel, which two women who were allowed to travel to Wellington but later proved to have Covid-19 were staying, have been tested and returned a negative test, Bloomfield said. ■

- AAP

AUSTRALIA

Victoria ramps up virus complianceVictorian authorities will doorknock in coronavirus hotspots to ensure residents understand enforcement guidelines, while not ruling out tighter lockdowns.

Following a spike in positive cases that prompted a national warning against travel to six Melbourne local council areas, the state government has ramped up communication efforts.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos confirmed public health officials will provide communities in Brimbank, Cardinia, Casey, Darebin, Hume and Moreland with additional information about coronavirus.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee urged residents in these hotspots not to leave their suburbs until community transmission is curbed.

“We have a team of 50 that is starting from today to do door knocking,” Minister Mikakos said.

“We have been concerned that some people may be taking some risks, with their health and with the health of others by still going out into the community.”

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the AHPPC advice didn’t translate into a lockdown of those areas.

“For the purpose of protecting our interstate jurisdictions, we really need to say, look, reconsider travel or don’t make plans to travel into these hotspot areas,” he said.

Mikakos didn’t rule out the possibility of tightening restrictions on specific locations.

“Exactly what form that might take is under active consideration,” she said.

Victoria’s active cases have more than doubled in a week, with 16 new infections overnight taking the current total to 125.

By contrast, active cases in NSW have jumped by 22 in the past week, but fallen or remained zero in every other state.

The state’s active COVID-19 case numbers are now the highest they’ve been in more than two months after six days of double-digit growth. ■

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JUNE 22 (GMT) – JUNE 23 (AEST), 2020

ASIA

An image made from China’s CCTV video shows rescue workers searching on the river

banks in southwestern China’s Chongqing province. - AP

Young schoolkids drown in riverEight children have drowned in a river in southwestern China after one fell in and the others jumped in to help, state media says.

The children, described as elementary-school age, had gone to play at a beach on the Fu River, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Their bodies have been recovered.

They came from Mixin, a town near Sichuan province on the outskirts of the sprawling metropolis of Chongqing. No further details were immediately available.

Heavy rain had been forecast for the area, but it wasn’t clear if the weather was a factor. ■

North Koreans prepare anti-South Korea propaganda leaflets in North Korea. - AP

ASIA

Korean tension over propaganda leafletsSouth Korea is urging North Korea to scrap a plan to launch propaganda leaflets across the border, after the North said it’s ready to float 12 million leaflets in what would be the largest such psychological campaign against its southern rival.

Animosities on the Korean Peninsula rose sharply last week, after North Korea destroyed an inter-Korean liaison office on its territory in anger over South Korean civilian leafleting against it. North Korea said it will fly propaganda leaflets and take other steps to nullify 2018 deals that were meant to ease military tensions at the border.

Yoh Sangkey, a spokesman at Seoul’s Unification Ministry, told reporters that North Korea must suspend its plan to send anti-Seoul leaflets that “are not helpful to South-North (Korea) relations at all.”

Earlier, North Korea said it had manufactured 12 million propaganda leaflets to be floated toward South Korea aboard 3000 balloons and other unspecified delivery equipment.

“Our plan of distributing the leaflets against the enemy is an eruption of the unquenchable anger of all the people and the whole society,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said. “The time for retaliatory punishment is drawing near.”

Some observers say ongoing weather conditions aren’t favorable for North Korea to fly balloons into the South so it may use drones to deliver the leaflets. They say this could trigger clashes between the Koreas because South Korea must respond to incoming drones to its territory.

A South Korean activist recently said he would also drop about a million leaflets over the border, the 70th anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War. South Korean officials have said they’ll ban civilian activists from launching balloons toward North Korea.

Experts say North Korea is likely focusing on the South Korean civilian leafleting to boost its internal unity and apply more pressures on Seoul and Washington amid stalled nuclear diplomacy. ■

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JUNE 22 (GMT) – JUNE 23 (AEST), 2020

UK

- PA

Simple saliva virus test set to be trialedThe Government is piloting a coronavirus saliva test that could become an alternative to the existing invasive, and sometimes painful, deep nasal and throat swab.

The new test only requires the individual to spit into a sample pot to be tested for current COVID-19 infection, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.

The trial is due to be launched in Southampton this week – and over 14,000 people working in GP surgeries, universities and in other frontline roles have been recruited for the first phase.

The project is being jointly led by Southampton City Council, the University of Southampton and the NHS, the DHSC said, with the help of other public services in Hampshire.

Participants will receive test results within 48 hours and details of those who test positive shared with the NHS Test and Trace Programme.

There have been fears the existing swab test could be yielding a significant level of false negatives, potentially due to the difficulty in swabbing the sinuses and back of the throat.

Research from Bristol University and John Hopkins university has found up to 20 per cent of swab tests return false negatives.

It also provokes coughing and spluttering, putting health workers – already working in close quarters with the testee – at even greater risk of the droplet-borne infection.

It is hoped the new tests will significantly boost existing testing capacity and accessibility.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Saliva testing could potentially make it even easier for people to take coronavirus tests at home, without having to use swabs.

“This trial will also help us learn if routine, at-home testing could pick up cases of the virus earlier.”

He added: “I am very grateful to everyone involved in the trial who is helping us develop our understanding of the virus which will benefit not only our but the global response to it.” ■

- PA

UK

Kitten boom expected due to virus lockdownThousands of extra kittens could be born this summer due to lockdown restrictions, with animal welfare charities already feeling the strain of the “kitten crisis”.

Cat owners are being urged to keep female cats indoors as the number of kittens being born is expected to rise, with the seasonal boom exacerbated by the UK’s lockdown restrictions.

Around 84,000 extra kittens could be born because fewer vets are carrying out neutering procedures.

One man from Harrow found himself with a house full of 17 cats during the lockdown after his unneutered female cat became pregnant. The situation quickly spiralled, with multiple litters being born at the same time.

The kittens were taken into the care of Cats Protection and they will eventually be rehomed.

The RSPCA also rescued 22 cats from a single household in Weston-super-Mare this week. The cats, including 14 different kittens from three different litters, also included several pregnant adult cats.

The charity said the number of kittens born in the house had grown rapidly because, due to lockdown, vets have only been carrying out emergency procedures, which does not include neutering.

Since lockdown began, the RSPCA has taken more than 600 cats into its care – more than any other pet – and fears the situation could get worse.

Many cats and their kittens have been abandoned during the lockdown, with both charities being forced to step in.

Among those was a pregnant cat, abandoned in Sheffield after its owners moved away and who is now being fostered by an RSPCA inspector. The kittens are now four weeks old and have been joined by a single three-week-old kitten, Luca, who was found under some decking on his own and had to be hand-reared. ■

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JUNE 22 (GMT) – JUNE 23 (AEST), 2020

Cruise ships banned, virus tests mandatoryThe government is extending a ban on cruise ships and updating its health order to make clear that travellers may be required to take multiple tests, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.

The Prime Minister revealed the moves at her weekly post-Cabinet media briefing.

Ardern said the government has renewed its health order and included a new measure to clarify that incoming people must return a negative test before leaving quarantine, and may be required to take multiple tests.

People in managed isolation were previously required to meet the “low risk indicator” before leaving isolation, but more recently had been required to return a negative test. Ardern said the changes to the health ordern were making those expectations “absolutely explicit”.

The government also extended the cruise ship ban beyond 30 June, for a further 60 or 90 days, Ardern said.

There are exceptions to the ban, including for cargo vessels to load and unload and fishing vessels to unload and resupply.

However, any crew arriving in New Zealand would need to spend 14 days in quarantine in New Zealand unless they had been on the boat for 28 days prior to arriving. This is a tightening of the current rules, she said.

“Overall, you can see, that we are continuing to assure ourselves and the New Zealand community that we are doing everything it takes to maintain our priveleged position that every New Zealander has worked so hard for whilst the world enters into a phase where this pandemic grows, not slows.”

A week ago there were no reported cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. Today, there are nine. All confirmed cases are people who were staying in managed isolation after arriving in the country, although the first two revealed on Tuesday were sisters who had been granted a compassionate exemption to leave and travel to Wellington due to their parent’s death. ■

NEW ZEALAND

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. - RNZ / Dom Thomas

Cruise virus victim told ‘only the flu’A woman who died from COVID-19 after disembarking the Ruby Princess cruise ship had been told repeatedly by onboard health authorities she had the flu and it was “nothing to worry about”, an inquiry has been told.

Lesley Bacon was first struck down with “horrendous pain” in her left leg on March 12 and attended the ship’s medical clinic feeling less well four days later.

Brian Bacon was told his wife had the flu and would be kept in the vessel’s clinic overnight.

Josephine Roope on Monday recounted the timeline of her friend Bacon’s demise, to an inquiry examining the ship’s arrival in Sydney on March 19.

Despite returning a negative flu test, Bacon remained in the clinic until the end of the cruise.

Roope said she was informed by cruise ship senior doctor, lse von Watzdorf “it was only the flu, nothing to worry about”.

She said she asked twice on March 18 and again on March 19 what was wrong with her friend.

Bacon was one of two passengers taken by ambulance to Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. She died a few days later.

Roope herself has never experienced any symptoms and on the advice of NSW Health has not been tested for the virus.

Earlier, the inquiry heard from David Annesley who was also deterred from virus testing by the state’s health authorities.

Annesley developed mild symptoms after picking up his mother-in-law Helen Rhodes from the Ruby Princess at Circular Quay on March 19.

Rhodes tested positive to COVID-19 on the afternoon of March 23 after Annesley tried earlier that morning to be tested.

“Until your mother tests positive, there’s no need for you to come in,” was the message from health authorities as recounted by Annesley.

He was allowed to be tested the next day and produced a positive result. ■

Cruise ship passengers disembark from the Princess Cruises owned Ruby Princess at

Circular Quay in Sydney in March. - AAP

AUSTRALIA