Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck

MELBOURNE, Aug. 21 (Reuters) – Australian police clashed with hundreds of anti-lockout protesters in Melbourne and Sydney on Saturday, while officials denounced the country’s highest increase in COVID-19 cases.

Mounted police used pepper spray in Melbourne to break up crowds heading towards police lines, while a small group of riot police prevented smaller groups of protesters from gathering in Sydney.

No information was immediately available on the arrests. Victoria police had promised to hand out fines of A $ 5,000 ($ 3,600) to any protester they could identify as participating.

Sydney, a city of more than 5 million people, has been in strict closure for more than two months, so far without containing an outbreak that has spread to internal borders and to neighboring New Zealand.

The vast majority of the 894 cases reported on Saturday across Australia were found in Sydney, the epicenter of the outbreak fueled by Delta variants.

“We are in a very serious situation here in New South Wales,” said State Health Minister Brad Hazzard. “Now is not the time to be selfish. It’s time to think about the wider community and your families.”

Police patrolled the streets of Sydney and blocked public and private transport in the city center to reduce the number of people gathering in an unauthorized protest.

In Melbourne, a large crowd managed to march through the city, with some protesters clashing with police, after Prime Minister Daniel Andrews extended a closure to that city across the state.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton had earlier warned people to stay away from the protest, adding that it was “ridiculous to think that people would be so selfish and come to do this”.

Several hundred people also protested peacefully in Brisbane, which is not closed.

Although anti-Locist protests are often not widely supported by Australians. A late July survey by market research firm Utting Research showed that only 7% of people supported the protests.

Compliance with public health standards has been one of the key reasons behind Australia’s success in managing the pandemic. But the country has been struggling to curb the third wave of infections that began in Sydney in mid-June.

Only a third of Australians aged 16 and over have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the federal health ministry released on Saturday.

New South Wales officials on Saturday reported three deaths and 516 people in hospital. Of the 85 people in intensive care, 76 were not vaccinated, officials said.

At least 96 people were active in the community during their infectious period and several violations of public health orders occurred, which slowed efforts to reduce the outbreak.

In Victoria, at least 39 people were active in the community while they were infectious. Eighteen people were in the hospital, eight in intensive care and six in ventilators.

Australia’s COVID-19 figures are still relatively low compared to other developed countries, with just over 43,000 cases and 978 deaths.

(1 $ = 1.4017 Australian dollars)

Report by Lidia Kelly; Edited by Will Dunham and Jane Wardell

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