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Despite a tough lockdown, Sydney is battling another surge in coronavirus cases. Health officials today reported 112 new infections in the Australian metropolis in one day – a new high in this wave of infections. The first CoV death this year was reported yesterday.
The virus has now spread to several neighborhoods in the city of five million, despite a lockdown that has lasted for more than two weeks. New South Wales state government leader Gladys Berejiklian blamed the negligence of residents who met despite the lockdown.
For more than two weeks, Sydney residents have only been allowed to leave their homes for a valid reason. The measure has been extended until July 16 for the time being. Australia’s largest city is de facto sealed off from the rest of the country because of the restrictions.
Slow vaccination campaign
Unlike European countries, Australia is pursuing a strategy aimed at having no more infections with the virus. To achieve this, the government largely closed the borders and imposed localized but very strict lockdowns even when there were only a few infections.
This strategy enabled Australians to live relatively normally during the pandemic while avoiding high death tolls. Since the pandemic began, just over 30,000 infections and 910 deaths have been reported in Australia, which has a population of 25.4 million. Meanwhile, the vaccination campaign is progressing slowly: only about ten percent of Australians are fully vaccinated.
— source: ORF.at/agencies/picture: pixabay.com
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