KEY POINTS

• Bitcoin surged to an all-time high of more than $50,000 on Tuesday.
• Large firms like Tesla, Mastercard and BNY Mellon have shown support for cryptocurrencies.
• Many crypto investors believe the current bull run is different to a late 2017 bubble.

MORE… CNBC. 😉

SYDNEY—Australia has relied on one of the world’s most aggressive quarantine programs to keep the coronavirus at bay. Now, one leader wants to go further by housing returned travelers in Outback camps far from cities as new Covid-19 variants threaten the country’s success.

The premier of Queensland state wants to repurpose camps designed for resources workers as isolation hubs in remote scrubland where temperatures can top 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It follows an outbreak of a highly contagious coronavirus strain at a quarantine hotel in Brisbane, Australia’s third-largest city and the state capital, with a population of about 2.5 million people.

“I think with this new strain, we have to put all options on the table, and these are sensible, rational options,” said Annastacia Palaszczuk, who was re-elected as Queensland premier in late October in part due to her center-left government’s tough measures to contain Covid-19.

The idea of using remote camps illustrates how leaders in places that had crushed the virus are considering more extreme measures to protect people from new variants of the coronavirus, which emerged in the U.K. and South Africa and have since spread to more countries. Currently, travelers returning to Australia are housed in hotels, often close to city airports, for 14 days.

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A coalition of health and technology organizations are working to develop a digital COVID-19 vaccination passport to allow businesses, airlines and countries to check if people have received the vaccine.

The Vaccination Credential Initiative, announced on Thursday, is formulating technology to confirm vaccinations in the likelihood that some governments will mandate people provide proof of their shots in order to enter the nation.

The organization hopes the technology will allow people to “demonstrate their health status to safely return to travel, work, school and life while protecting their data privacy.”

The initiative, which includes members like Microsoft, Oracle and U.S. nonprofit Mayo Clinic, is using the work from member Commons Project’s international digital document that verifies a person has tested negative for COVID-19, the Financial Times reported.

The Commons Project’s technology, created in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, is being utilized by three major airline alliances. 

The coalition is reportedly in discussions with several governments to create a program requiring either negative tests or proof of vaccination to enter, Paul Meyer, the chief executive of The Commons Project, told the Times.

“The goal of the Vaccination Credential Initiative is to empower individuals with digital access to their vaccination records so they can use tools like CommonPass to safely return to travel, work, school, and life, while protecting their data privacy,” Meyer said in a release.

The people who have vaccinated are currently receiving a piece of paper confirming their vaccination he said, but the coalition could develop a digital certificate using electronic medical records.

The technology will need to allow patients to keep their data secure while being available in a digital wallet or a physical QR code for them to regulate who sees the information.

The Vaccination Credential Initiative expects certain businesses such as event planners and universities will require their consumers, students and workers to provide proof of vaccination, according to the Times.

Source: The Hill

“An illusion it will be, so large, so vast it will escape their perception.