Saturday, 28 November 2020

Coronavirus live news: Brazil records nearly 600 deaths; Victoria goes 30 days without new cases

Brazil records nearly 52,000 daily new cases; more than 150 arrested in UK anti-lockdown protests; Australian state of Victoria records no new cases and no deaths

Since the start of the pandemic, 62,094,129 coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide, while 1,449,709 people have died, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker.

The US has recorded the highest number of deaths (266,009), followed by Brazil (171,974) and India (136,200).

The Australian government is extending one of the measures it put in place to try and arrest the economic damage from the Covid-19 pandemic - although at a reduced rate.

The Coalition government extended its Homebuilder scheme until March – when its main stimulus measures, the wage subsidy jobkeeper and the additional Covid supplement to the unemployment benefit, jobseeker, are also due to expire.

The renewed Homebuilder scheme aims to provide a boost to the construction industry, with eligible home builders entitled to a $15,000 grant towards the cost of the build. That’s reduced from $25,000 from when the scheme was first launched earlier this year, but the cap for eligible homes has increased. The three-month extension is expected to see an additional 15,000 homes built on top of the 27,000 homes predicted to be supported by the scheme.

House construction is down in Australia; while 170,000 new homes were built in the last financial year, the Treasury predicts, even with the government scheme, only 140,000 homes will be constructed in the current financial year.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3o6uQ9y

No comments:

Post a Comment

Taiwan president's Hawaii trip draws Chinese anger

Lai Ching-te's trip to the US state is being billed as a stopover, but has been condemned by Beijing. from BBC News https://ift.tt/Sik...