DAILY NEWS

Coronavirus: Are Australia's numbers at risk of escalating? DAILY NEWS (MANNAN ALEEM) Image copyright AFP Image caption Officials have urged Australians not to become complacent with social distancing Australia has been hailed as a global success story in suppressing the spread of Covid-19. The virus did not take hold as feared because of quick shutdown measures, including border closures and the mandatory quarantine of travellers. Australia has reported just over 7,400 cases, far fewer than many nations. It has seen 102 deaths - the last was a month ago. Since May, the country has entered a phased exit from lockdown restrictions as the curve flattened. But in the last week there's been a rise in cases in Victoria, mostly in the state capital Melbourne. Concern has crept back into public conversation: Is this a small setback, or could it be something more sustained? What's happened in Victoria? On 13 June, Australia's c...

Creating an online course 'changed my life' BY  :  DAILY NEWS (MANNAN ALEEM) Image copyright LUCY GOUGH Image caption Lucy Gough launched an online interior design course Like many others, interior stylist Lucy Gough saw her income disappear when the coronavirus hit and naturally felt anxious about her future prospects. "Within one week the four shoots I'd been prepping for were all cancelled," she recalls. However, rather than do nothing, London-based Ms Gough decided to pivot her business and create an online interior styling course after teaching a similar course at London design school Central Saint Martins. "Even though I'd wanted to create a course for the last year it wasn't until lockdown was confirmed and all my income evaporated that I started creating it," she says. Covering six modules including shoot styling and home staging, Ms Gough launched the self-paced course in mid-May and within two weeks had already attract...

Coronavirus: German outbreak sparks fresh local lockdowns BY  :   DAILY NEWS (MANNAN ALEEM) Image copyright PA Image caption Authorities have sent supplies to the quarantined workers of the Tönnies meatpacking plant German authorities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia have reimposed lockdown restrictions in two districts after a spike in case s. One area is home to a meatpacking plant where more than 1,500 workers have tested positive. State premier Armin Laschet said the "preventative measures" in Gütersloh district, where about 360,000 people live, would last until 30 June. Neighbouring Warendorf district has also seen restrictions return. The state's health minister, Karl-Josef Laumann, announced the second lockdown just hours after the first, saying further measures were needed "in order to protect the population". It is the first time lockdowns have been reintroduced in Germany since the country began lifting nationwide restrictions i...