The closure in Melbourne was due to end on Thursday, but authorities say this is no longer possible due to the increase in cases.
Australian authorities say they will extend the blockade of the country’s second-largest city, Melbourne, as they fight to quell a coronavirus outbreak driven by the highly infectious Delta variant.
Sunday’s announcement came as the number of COVID-19 infections in the state of Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital, rose by 92 overnight, the highest number in almost a year.
There are also 778 active cases in Victoria, according to health data.
The closing of Melbourne, the sixth since the start of the pandemic, was due to end on Thursday. But Victorian Prime Minister Dan Andrews said Sunday that this would no longer be possible.
“We still have too many cases in the community for too long for us to open up and give back to them … those freedoms we love and those freedoms we desperately want,” Andrews said.
The closing of Melbourne is currently in its fourth week and includes a curfew, the closure of playgrounds and strict exercise limits.
Hundreds of protesters march in an anti-blockade protest in Melbourne on 21 August [James Ross/AAP Image via AP]Andrews did not say how long orders would be kept to stay home, and said officials would “examine all the different options.”
Meanwhile, the neighboring state of New South Wales, which includes the city of Sydney, Australia’s most populous, released 1,218 new cases on Sunday, pushing the country’s daily number to a new high. historical.
Nearly 19,000 cases have been detected in the state of nearly eight million people since the outbreak of the Delta variant began in mid-June.
But with vaccination rates now rising in New South Wales and authorities predict that 70 per cent of adults will be fully vaccinated in October, residents tired of prolonged restrictions have been promised modest liberties. .
In the non-hotspot areas, five fully vaccinated adults will be able to meet outdoors for up to an hour from mid-September, while authorities have also indicated that small weddings will soon be allowed.
Australian leaders have agreed on a national plan to reopen the country once 70 and 80 per cent vaccination targets are met in each state and territory.
Currently, only 33.7% of people over the age of 16 have been completely vaccinated. But at current rates, 80% could be vaccinated in mid-November.
“Learning to live with the virus is our only hope,” The Age newspaper quoted Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg as saying on Sunday. “Delaying and denying this fact is not only incorrect, but incredibly unrealistic.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Australia has recorded more than 51,000 cases of COVID-19 and nearly 1,000 deaths in a population of 25 million people.