Sydney’s COVID cases were seen surpassing 2,000 a day; Australia increases vaccines

SYDNEY, Sept. 6 (Reuters) – Sydney, the epicenter of Australia’s largest coronavirus outbreak, is expected to see the peak of daily infections next week, authorities said on Monday as they try to speed up vaccinations before facilitating blocking rules.

Australia is trying to contain a third wave of infections that has affected its two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, and its capital Canberra, forcing more than half of the 25 million people to strictly restrict their stay at home.

New South Wales Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian said the modeling of the government revealed that the state would require the highest number of intensive care beds in early October, with “additional pressure on the system “in the coming weeks.

Daily cases in Sydney’s most affected suburbs are expected to reach 2,000 by the middle of this month, modeling shows.

“If too many of us do wrong, (if) there are too many super outreach events, we could see these higher figures,” Berejiklian said during a briefing in Sydney, the state capital.

A total of 1,071 COVID-19 cases are currently in hospitals in New South Wales, with 177 people in intensive care (ICU), 67 of whom require ventilation. Officials have said they had quadrupled UCI beds to about 2,000 in the state early last year to deal with the pandemic.

The state reported 1,281 new cases on Monday, most in Sydney, up from 1,485 a day earlier. Five new deaths were recorded. The state of Victoria, which includes Melbourne, reported 246 new cases on Monday, its biggest daily increase of the year.

Despite recent outbreaks, Australia’s coronavirus figures have remained relatively low, at around 63,000 cases and 1,044 deaths, aided by strong blockades and border restrictions.

But companies have had to bear the brunt, with Australia on the brink of a second recession in so many years.

Melbourne’s giant observation wheel, which has been part of the city’s skyline for more than 15 years, will close permanently due to COVID-related “travel restrictions and sustained stops”, its operator said on Monday. .

Meanwhile, the Australian industrial group has warned that the country could suffer power outages in the summer if tired quarantine workers refuse to cross state borders for repairs and maintenance.

VACCINE RUSSIAN

Authorities have promised more freedom of movement, including the opening of state borders, once 70% to 80% of the population over the age of 16 are vaccinated, although some virus-free states may delay their plans. of reopening due to the outbreak of the Delta in Sydney.

Just over 38% of Australia’s adult population has been fully vaccinated, and the country is expected to reach 70% by early November at current rates.

The federal government has doubled the available doses of Pfizer for September after it last week signed vaccine exchange agreements with Britain and Singapore for a total of about 4.5 million doses, with nearly half a million arriving during the night. Read more

“There will be another set of flights in a couple of days, but we will almost receive one million of the four million each week for the next four weeks,” Lt. Gen. John Frewen, head of the group, told the station. vaccination work. ABC.

Frewen said a million doses of Moderna (MRNA.O) will also arrive in Australia in “a week or so,” becoming the third vaccine to join the launch along with the Pfizer (PFE) shots. N) and AstraZeneca (AZN.L).

Reports of Renju Jose; edition by Jane Wardell and Lincoln Feast

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