The court confirms the closure of state borders in Australia

Canberra, Australia (AP) – The Supreme Court of Australia on Friday upheld the closure of the state’s border and dismissed billionaire businessman Clive Palmer’s argument that the epidemic was unconstitutional.

Seven High Court judges have ruled that the closure of Western Australia’s state border for non-essential trips must comply with the Constitution during “a plague or a danger of an epidemic nature”. All Australian states and territories have used border controls to control epidemics, and a court ruling against Western Australia could affect their epidemic responses.

The government closed its borders to other parts of Australia on April 5 and no cases of COVID-19 community outbreaks have been reported since April 11.

Western Australia should relax its border policy on November 14 and allow residents from states and territories considered low-risk to go into isolation.

The state government argued that it should allow its iron ore mines to sustain their production and earn the highest price in six years, while production in Brazil has been disrupted by the absence of their main rival, the epidemic.

Mining chief Palmer took court action in May when he was denied permission to enter the state. His lawyers argued that border control was unfairly violating Australians’ constitutional right to free travel between states.

Separately, an investigation into isolated issues in Melbourne suggested that police should protect hotels where foreign travelers return. The Victorian state government’s decision to use private security agencies instead of the police and military to enforce segregation in Melbourne hotels has been widely blamed for the loose restrictions that led to the virus outbreak in Australia’s second largest city. The interim report of the inquiry into the isolated project recommended that “every isolated station has a 24/7 police presence”.

Other developments in the Asia-Pacific region include:

– China has temporarily banned foreigners from entering at least eight countries as COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Europe and elsewhere. Non-Chinese can no longer enter from Russia, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Philippines, India and Bangladesh, even if they have an invalid visa or residence permit. Embassies in those countries have recently issued online notices. China has taken drastic measures to protect itself from new infections coming from abroad. Health officials said Friday that 30 cases were imported within 24 hours, including 15 in Shanghai. This brought the total number of cases imported during the epidemics to 3,510.

– 47,638 new cases of corona virus have been reported in India, bringing the total to 8.4 million. The death toll rose to 670 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 124,985 on Friday, according to the Ministry of Health. India has the second highest casino in the world after the United States. Although the country has seen a steady decline since mid-September, its capital continues to see an increase in infections. New Delhi recorded nearly 6,700 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the second highest single-day spike since the outbreak.

– United Nations He vowed to hold a summit on December 3-4 to respond to the spread of the corona virus and its “unprecedented” effects on communities, economies and trade. The General Assembly voted 150-0 on the resolution approving the meeting, although the United States, Israel and Armenia voted in favor. This includes pre-recorded speeches and a presentation and discussion led by the President of the World Health Organization. Speaker of the Legislature Volken Boskir called the high-level special session “a historic moment and a test for multifacetedness.”

– Health officials in Thailand on Friday announced the country’s 60th death from a 66-year-old Thai cow-19 who was infected with the corona virus after returning from the United Kingdom. This is Thailand’s first coronavirus death since mid – September. The 58th death occurred three months earlier, in early June. The Ministry of Health announced eight new corona virus cases, bringing the total to 3,818 since January. The new cases are all from abroad. The man, who was pronounced dead Friday in the United Kingdom on Oct. 19, was sent directly to an isolated center, according to rules for foreign visitors. On Oct. 20, he had trouble breathing and tested positive for the corona virus. He passed away on Thursday.