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Wednesday, February 24, 2021

‘We are not paying that bill’: Queensland holds PM to ransom for quarantine hub

Queensland will refuse to cough up cash it owes New South Wales for hotel quarantine stays until Prime Minister Scott Morrison approves a proposed pop-up quarantine hub near Toowoomba.

The quarantine mega-hub on the outskirts of Toowoomba, which would be built and paid for by local construction firm Wagners, needs federal government approval to go ahead.

Applying pressure on Mr Morrison to move ahead on the pitch, Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the Queensland government would refuse to pay a $30 million quarantine bill issued by NSW until the federal government allowed repatriation flights to land at Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Airport.

Mr Miles said his state was “stepping up where the Commonwealth have failed” by proposing the national quarantine facility in southern Queensland.

Doctor who administered incorrect dose of COVID-19 vaccine had not been trained

The doctor who administered incorrect doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to two aged care residents in Queensland had not completed the compulsory vaccination training.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has asked the Department of Health to take action against the doctor and Healthcare Australia, the company tasked with providing vaccinations within aged care facilities.

The aged care provider that runs the Brisbane facility where the incident occurred said they will also report the doctor to the medical regulator.

Mr Hunt on Wednesday morning said the doctor had trained in Australia, was registered with the medical regulator and had undertaken the necessary COVID vaccination training.

Facebook brings back news after Australian government amends upcoming law

Facebook will restore news content to its platform in Australia after the government agreed to amend its proposed News Media Bargaining Code. In an update posted today, Facebook’s William Easton, managing director of Australia and New Zealand, said that the company is “satisfied that the Australian government has agreed to a number of changes and guarantees that address our core concerns.” News content will return to the platform “in the coming days,” Easton said.

Facebook and Google have been at loggerheads with the Australian government about an upcoming law that will require them to pay publishers for content shared on their platforms. In response to the proposed bargaining code, Facebook took the extreme measure last week of blocking news from being shared on its platform by Australian users and publishers.

Facebook v Australia: Who blinked fir

Australian news will return to the social media giant's platform, and it will reach deals to pay news groups for their stories. So, who won this titanic battle and how will that play out around the world?

The former boss of Facebook in Australia is pretty clear.

"I'd say Facebook may have blinked a bit here," Stephen Scheeler told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I think there's no question that global backlash against this was pretty stern.

"And I think Facebook probably observed that governments around the world were taking a harder line maybe than they had anticipated."

Fauci says he sees U.S. CDC relaxing some COVID-19 guidelines soon: CNN

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci on Tuesday told CNN that he expects the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to soon relax some COVID-19 recommendations aimed at curbing its spread for people who have been vaccinated.

“I believe you’re going to be hearing more of the recommendations of how you can relax the stringency of some of the things, particularly when you’re dealing with something like your own personal family, when people have been vaccinated,” Fauci said, adding he expected the new guidance “pretty soon.”

U.S. House plans vote on COVID-19 aid bill on Friday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Friday on legislation to provide $1.9 trillion in new coronavirus relief, Representative Steny Hoyer, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, said.

“The American people strongly support this bill, and we are moving swiftly to see it enacted into law,” Hoyer said on Twitter on Tuesday.

The House Budget Committee approved the measure on Monday. Passing more relief to ease the economic effects of the pandemic is a top priority of Democratic President Joe Biden.

Covid-19: U.S. Vaccine Production and Supply Increase After Snowstorms Caused Delays

The White House said on Tuesday that weekly shipments of coronavirus vaccines to the states would rise by one million doses to 14.5 million, as vaccine manufacturers continue to ramp up production.

The figure was provided to governors in a call with Jeffrey Zeints, the president’s coronavirus response coordinator, said Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, on Tuesday. With tens of millions of eligible Americans waiting to get shots, state officials have been clamoring for more vaccine, saying health practitioners could easily double or triple the number of shots they are administering.

World’s first AI-powered rapid COVID-19 antigen test launched in the UAE

Two UAE-based health companies have partnered with Canada’s Laipac Technology to launch the “world’s first” artificial intelligence (AI)-powered rapid COVID-19 antigen test.

YAS Pharmaceuticals and Pure Health will be working with the Ontario-based Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) specialist to provide an “intelligent and innovative way to deploy technologies to better protect the health of people across the region,” Laipac announced in a statement.

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