Following her chat with Jacinda Ardern last week, the Queen has called Prime Minister Scott Morrison to personally congratulate Australia on their success of fighting COVID-19.
Morrison revealed the news on his Instagram account last night.
“Was very kind to receive Her Majesty’s call this evening to check in and see how we’re all getting on in Australia,” he writes.
The PM says the Queen was very interested in hearing about Australia’s progress in fighting COVID-19 and was “pleased” the country has prevented terrible impacts.
The conversation then turned to Australia’s bushfires. “Our recovery from the bushfires was also a key area of interest for her as well as the ongoing drought,” he continued.
Morrison added that the Queen was happy to hear horse racing hasn’t been suspended. “Her Majesty was also pleased to hear our horse races were still running in Australia and sent her very best wishes to all Australians.”
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Australia currently has 6,849 cases of COVID-19, with 5,998 recovered and 96 deaths.
The rate of new cases has been steadily dropping since early Apri and yesterday, the Prime Minister said plans to ease restrictions will be announced next week.
Talk of a trans-Tasman travel bubble has been the latest topic of conversation in both New Zealand and Australia. While Morrison is in talks with Jacinda Ardern, he says Australian’s shouldn’t expect the travel restrictions to lift any time soon.
“The prime minister and I have for several weeks been talking about a safe travel zone between Australia and New Zealand. It is still some time away,” he said yesterday.
