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A lone passenger wearing a protective mask walks from a deserted train platform on Flinders Street during the morning hours commuting on the first day of a closure while the state of Victoria wants to curb the spread of an outbreak of disease of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Melbourne, Australia, July 16, 2021. REUTERS / Sandra Sanders
August 28 (Reuters) – Australia reported a record 1,126 infectious coronaviruses on Saturday, the vast majority in New South Wales, the epicenter of the Delta-fed outbreak.
More than half of Australians have been locked up for weeks as officials in Sydney and Melbourne, the country’s largest cities, and the capital Canberra are struggling to quell the outbreak.
New South Wales, the most populous and Sydney-based state, reported that 1,035 locally acquired COVID-19 infections broke the record of 1,029 on Thursday as the outbreak that began in mid-June continues to grow.
Victoria reported 64 cases, mainly in its capital Melbourne, and the territory of the Australian capital including Canberra had 26 infections. Queensland had one, Australian Deputy Medical Director Michael Kidd said in a briefing.
Despite the record in New South Wales, the Conservative government of the state Liberal Party said it would ease some restrictions next week, allowing weddings of five guests.
Officials in neighboring Victoria, who have imposed stricter restrictions, have criticized the state’s management of the outbreak – which has nearly 14,700 active cases – believing the outbreak could be suppressed there.
“I’m not sure 1,000 cases a day are a sign of hope,” Victoria Health Minister Martin Foley said of New South Wales infections. “I’m pretty sure if you ask the intensive care nurses at Sydney hospitals right now how they saw the situation, it wouldn’t be a hugely blonde picture.”
After months of delays in supply with Pfizer shots and public unease over the AstraZeneca vaccine, Australia has been running in recent weeks to inoculate its population. At the current rate, 80% could be vaccinated in mid-November.
The federal government last month announced a plan that provided for closures as a key to stifling outbreaks until 70% of the population was vaccinated and a gradual reopening of Australia’s borders when the number reached 80%.
Only 33.7% of people over the age of 16 have been fully vaccinated, but with some 49,800 cases and 993 deaths, Australia has kept its COVID-19 numbers relatively low.
Neighboring New Zealand, which this year had been largely virus-free, is also battling a Delta outbreak, reporting on Saturday 82 new locally acquired cases, all at the epicenter of Auckland, as the nation remains under strict closure.
Reporting and writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Leslie Adler, Will Dunham and William Mallard
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