Australian government holds COVID emergency talks amid outbreaks
28 June 2021
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced he's convening an emergency COVID-19 meeting with state and territory leaders Monday afternoon, as outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta variant see restrictions return across the country.
Why it matters: This is the first time in months that cases have emerged in multiple parts of Australia simultaneously. Some 18 million Australians, roughly 70% of the population, are now under some form of pandemic restriction, Reuters notes.
- This includes the country's most populous city, Sydney, which locked down for the first time on Saturday as the Delta coronavirus variant continues to rapidly spread.
- Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday, "I think we are entering a new phase of this pandemic, with the more contagious Delta strain."
What's happening: New South Wales is the coronavirus epicenter, with 130 community cases — 124 in the Sydney Bondi cluster. Greater Sydney residents are now under a two-week stay-at-home order.
- Queensland, Western Australia (WA) and the Northern Territory have also imposed COVID restrictions following local outbreaks, with NT capital Darwin entering its first lockdown Sunday for 48 hours. Other states have imposed restrictions on travelers from pandemic hot spots.
The big picture: Australia had largely suppressed outbreaks before the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant emerged. The country has shared a quarantine-free "travel bubble" with New Zealand since April, but NZ paused this until late Tuesday in response to Australia's outbreaks.
- New Zealand raised its COVID-19 alert level in the capital, Wellington, after a traveler from Sydney who visited the country tested positive for the Delta strain upon his return last week and authorities are conducting mass testing to investigate whether there are any cases in the community.
- NZ has not reported a community case since Feb. 28.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.