No Virus Cases in Victoria for One Month

Trump Hails Supreme Court Decision Against Cuomo in Thanksgiving Message

President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court’s ruling that blocked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from restricting gatherings in houses of worship “HAPPY THANKSGIVING!,” the president wrote to his 88.8 million followers, with a quote from SCOTUSblog: “Just before midnight on the night before Thanksgiving, the Supreme Court blocked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from enforcing attendance limits at religious services. The vote is 5–4, with Roberts and the three liberals dissenting.” The lawsuit was filed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, which said that Cuomo’s executive actions that limited church attendance in an effort to slow the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus were unconstitutional. Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh ruled that his order violated the First Amendment. Cuomo,…

Once overrun with almost 8000 active cases, Victoria has officially eliminated COVID-19.

Today (Nov 27) marks four weeks without a new case of coronavirus.

Some 9828 Victorians were tested in the past 24 hours.

Health authorities say 28 days with no new cases means the virus has been eliminated from the community, given that period represents two 14-day incubation periods.

Just three months ago, Victoria reached 7880 active cases on August 11.

The last COVID-19 patient in a Victorian hospital was discharged on Monday, leaving the state without an active case.

Despite the good news, the Department of Health and Human Services has warned more virus fragments have been found as part of its wastewater surveillance testing program.

This time it was detected in a sample from a treatment plant in the Geelong suburb of Corio, with residents and visitors from Saturday to Tuesday urged to come forward for testing.

Hotel quarantine was the ignition point for the state’s devastating second wave, which killed more than 750 people and infected more than 18,000 others.

An inquiry into the botched program will hold its final hearing on Friday, with new statements from Premier Daniel Andrews, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and others expected to be released.

The premier is also set to face questions over the state’s handling of the crisis as he appears before the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee.

Ahead of the state’s hotel quarantine system restarting for international arrivals on December 7, Andrews all but ruled out a move to home quarantine – a key recommendation of the inquiry’s interim report.

“We’re going to have a hotel-based system but it will look and be different to what it was last time,” he said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Tasmania will become the latest state to reopen to Victoria on Friday after NSW removed its border checkpoints on Monday.

Queensland will follow suit on December 1.

Callum Godde in Melbourne

 

Focus News: No Virus Cases in Victoria for One Month

Ontario MPPs Pass Bill to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent, Pending Quebec and New York to Follow Suit

Ontario MPPs have voted to end the biannual practice of changing the clocks for daylight saving time, but will await Quebec and the state of New York to sign on similar laws before making the change. Bill 214, Time Amendment Act, 2020, which would make daylight saving time the standard time, passed the third reading stage on Nov. 25, 2020. It was originally tabled (pdf) by Ottawa West-Nepean PC MPP Jeremy Roberts in October 2020. “I’m thrilled to announce that the Legislative Assembly of Ontario has just unanimously voted to pass Bill 214, to end the clock changes,” Roberts wrote on Twitter. “I’m looking forward to reaching out to colleagues in Quebec and New York State, so that together, we can end this outdated practice.” During the second reading stage on…