More than half of Australia’s 26 million people are locked up, including in Melbourne. (File)
Sydney’s two-month closure will be extended until at least the end of September and masks will have to be worn outside as the Covid-19 delta variant outbreak worsens in Australia’s most populous city.
New South Wales registered 642 new cases on Friday, Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian told reporters. Starting Monday, wearing outdoor masks will be mandatory (except when exercising) in all regions across the state, he said. A curfew will be placed in the areas of western Sydney hardest hit by the outbreak.
Four other people had died from the virus, the state government said.
“We are asking everyone to go through some pain to protect lives until we raise vaccination rates,” Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney on Friday. they always work. “
Berejiklian’s announcement comes as the outbreak that began in Sydney continues to spread to other parts of the nation, which on Thursday recorded the highest daily count since the pandemic began. More than half of Australia’s 26 million people are locked up, including in Melbourne. The state of Victoria on Friday detected 55 cases of local transmission.
In New Zealand, authorities have linked the Sydney outbreak to at least 20 local cases. Although the three-day closure of the country was due to be removed on Friday in most areas except Auckland and the nearby Coromandel region, this plan appears to be in jeopardy amid media reports that the capital Wellington has now detected cases. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is due to hold a press conference at 3pm local time.
The outbreaks are putting unprecedented pressure on the so-called Covid Zero strategy followed by both Australia and New Zealand since the start of the pandemic. By closing borders and eliminating cases of community transmission by filtering into their countries through strict blockade measures, nations have avoided the waves of deaths observed in most other countries.
“Be straight with the audience”
Now, the highly infectious nature of the delta variant of the coronavirus is beginning to make unviable the hope of some authorities to maintain their Covid Zero status in the long run. The focus is instead on increasing late inoculation rates: Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker shows that Australia has provided both prey for only 22% of its population and New Zealand for 19%, following most other developed countries.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been under increasing pressure to increase vaccine deployment, which has been hampered by supply delays. The message of his ruling coalition, along with the Berejiklian state government, has now become to warn Australians that they will have to live with the delta variant indefinitely.
“People need to be direct with the public and tell them there will be more cases,” Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in a television interview on Friday. “There will be deaths. But we can’t live locked up forever. That’s our message.”
Other state and territorial leaders warn that New South Wales should not ease any restrictions as long as the number of cases remains high, regardless of vaccination rates. This is expected to be the focus of a national cabinet meeting hosted by Morrison later Friday.
Western Australian Prime Minister Mark McGowan, perhaps the nation’s strictest adherent to the zero-tolerance approach, has said he is willing to maintain his isolated state of New South Wales, regardless of vaccination rates, to try to keep out of the delta.
–With the assistance of Tim Smith.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)