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A lone passenger sits at a tram stop on a city center street, mostly empty, on the first day of a lockdown while the state of Victoria wants to curb the spread of an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID -19) in Melbourne, Australia, July 16, 2021. REUTERS / Sandra Sanders
MELBOURNE, Sept. 4 (Reuters) – Australia, struggling to quell its worst wave of COVID-19, reported 1,756 infections on Saturday, another record, and officials warned it had to get even worse, urging people to get vaccinated.
Most cases were relocated to New South Wales, which since mid-June has been battling an outbreak of the highly infectious variant of Delta. The state reported 1,533 new cases and four more deaths.
Neighbor Victoria reported 190 cases, the Australian capital 32 and Queensland. Recent daily infections run about twice the levels of Australia’s worst previous pandemic wave a year ago.
Believing that this outbreak cannot be eliminated, a successful strategy used by states and territories in previous waves, authorities in New South Wales and Victoria have focused on rapid inoculation to make cases less virulent.
Although infections in Victoria, in its sixth blockade, fell slightly from Friday 208, health authorities said the outbreak has not peaked.
“The overall trend is a slow, steady rise. That’s why vaccination is as critical as it is following the rules,” Victoria Health Chief Brett Sutton told a news conference.
New South Wales, the most populous and Sydney-based state, expects more than 1,000 new cases a day for at least two more weeks, and hospital admissions are likely to peak in October. On Saturday, health officials said 137 of the 173 people in intensive care hospitals were not vaccinated.
Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, together where almost 60% of Australia’s 25 million people live, have been under strict closure for weeks.
It is expected to continue until 70% of the population is fully vaccinated. At the current rate, Australia may reach this threshold in late October or early November.
Only a third of those over the age of 16 have been vaccinated, although the pace has risen considerably as the federal government rushes to get more shots from Pfizer.
Australia has recorded just under 60,000 cases of COVID-19 and 1,036 deaths, far fewer than many comparable countries.
Report by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Leslie Adler, Grant McCool and William Mallard
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