Sydney on Alert as Second Cluster of Covid-19 Cases Emerges

A second cluster of Covid-19 infections has emerged in Sydney, prompting authorities to further tighten restrictions on New Year’s Eve parties in an effort to prevent a wider outbreak.

Eighteen new local cases of the virus were reported overnight, New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters. Nine of those were in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, where the cluster now stands at 138 and some 250,000 people remain under lockdown.

Sydney Scales Back New Year’s Eve Fireworks Celebrations

The new cluster in Croydon, a suburb in Sydney’s inner-west, involves six infections in an extended family group, Berejiklian said. With cases expected to grow in coming days, household gatherings across Greater Sydney to celebrate the New Year will be limited to 5 visitors. The maximum size of outdoor gatherings will be reduced to 30 from 50.

“We don’t want New Year’s Eve to be the cause of a super-spreader,” she said. “Our preferred advice is that people just stay home.”

The outbreak is a blow to Australia, which had largely suppressed community transmission through rigorous testing and contact tracing, and by shuttering the international border — with all returned overseas travelers made to isolate for 14 days in quarantine hotels. Authorities are trying to pinpoint the source of the two clusters.

Herald afternoon quiz: December 30

Test your brains with the Herald's afternoon quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz for the morning quiz tomorrow.

Two of 12 Hong Kong activists detained in China to be returned: Global Times

BEIJING (Reuters) – Two of 12 Hong Kong activists detained in mainland China over an illegal border crossing will be returned to Hong Kong authorities, the Global Times reported on Wednesday.

Hong Kong police said on Wednesday it would hold a press conference just before noon regarding the transfer of two suspects held in the mainland to local authorities. It did not elaborate.

Trump Lobs Supreme Court Challenge to Overturn Wisconsin Vote

President Donald Trump is asking the U.S. Supreme Court for an expedited review of a Wisconsin decision that allowed 50,000 absentee ballots to be counted in another long-shot challenge to Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

The Trump campaign said in an emailed statement that it wanted the justices to review Wisconsin’s election results before Jan. 6 — next Wednesday — when the Senate and House meet jointly to open and count certificates of Electoral College votes.

Even though the outcome has been decided and more than 50 post-election lawsuits challenging the results by Trump’s campaign and its allies have been rejected, the president and some of his supporters continue to insist that he won based on groundless claims of widespread fraud.

The Supreme Court filing is based on allegations of illegal mail voting and follows a similar, failed request concerning Pennsylvania’s votes. Wisconsin’s high court “refused to address the merits” of the Trump campaign’s suit, Jim Troupis, a lawyer for the campaign, said in the statement.

Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected the campaign’s effort to bypass lower courts and take its election case directly to the state’s high court.

Pfizer, BioNTech To Supply European Union With 100 Mln Addl Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and BioNTech SE (BNTX) said Tuesday that they will supply an additional 100 million doses of their COVID-19 Vaccine to the 27 European Union member states in 2021.

The announcement is a result of the European Commission’s decision to exercise its option to purchase an additional 100 million doses under its advanced purchase agreement. The agreement brings the total number of doses to be delivered to the European Union to 300 million.

The European Commission last week granted a conditional marketing authorization for Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, also known as BNT162b2, for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus, in individuals 16 years of age and older. The approval is valid in all 27 member states of the European Union.

On November 11, Pfizer and BioNTech said that they reached an agreement with the European Commission to supply 200 million, with an option for the European Commission to request an additional 100 million doses. The companies previously stated their potential to supply up to 1.3 billion doses worldwide by the end of 2021.

Man arrested for drink driving after accident that injured a pedestrian

SINGAPORE – A 34-year-old man was arrested for drink driving after an accident involving a car and two pedestrians along Serangoon Road on Tuesday evening (Dec 29).

One of the pedestrians – a 40-year-old man – was taken to Raffles Hospital by the Singapore Civil Defence Force. He was conscious at the time.

The other pedestrian was not injured.

The police said they were alerted to the accident at 5.07pm.

Rupee surges 9 paise to 73.33 against U.S. dollar in early trade

On December 29, rupee had settled at 73.42 against the U.S. dollar.

The rupee appreciated by 9 paise to 73.33 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade on December 30 supported by sustained foreign fund inflows and weakness in the American currency in the overseas market.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.35 against the U.S. dollar, then inched higher to 73.33 against the greenback, registering a rise of 9 paise over its previous close.

On December 29, rupee had settled at 73.42 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback”s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.28% to 89.74.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 55.37 points lower at 47,557.71, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 16 points to 13,916.60.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth ₹2,349.53 crore on a net basis on December 29, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.43% to $51.31 per barrel.