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Officials said the Australian capital is facing “the most serious public health risk” this year after the first case of community transmission was discovered.
The Australian capital, Canberra, announced a one-week rapid lockdown after reporting its first locally-infected COVID-19 case in more than a year.
These restrictions will take effect on Thursday night, when Australia is working to control the highly contagious strain of Coronavirus Delta. In Melbourne and Sydney, the country’s largest cities, more than 10 million people are already under strict lockdown.
The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Andrew Barr, which includes Canberra, said the source of the positive cases in the city is unclear.
“This is the most serious public health risk we face in the region this year,” he told reporters. “This is why we have adopted strict lockdown measures.”
According to restrictions, all people 12 years and older must wear masks when going out, and people can only leave home for necessary reasons, including shopping, medical care, and exercise.
Non-essential services must also be closed during the lockdown period.
On August 9, 2021, 12th grade HSC students began to receive Pfizer’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the Mass Vaccination Center in Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, Australia [Dean Lewis/Pool via Reuters]In Sydney, the New South Wales (NSW) government stated that it may convene more military personnel to ensure compliance with COVID-19 restrictions, because despite the seven-week lockdown, daily cases remain at record highs.
New South Wales Governor Gladys Berejiklian (Gladys Berejiklian) said at a press conference held in Sydney, the state capital and Australia’s largest city: “We are making sure to spare no effort in additional (military) resources.”
A spokesperson for Secretary of Defense Peter Dutton told Reuters that the New South Wales government has indicated that it will formally request additional military support soon. Approximately 580 unarmed soldiers are already helping the police enforce home quarantine orders for families affected in Sydney’s worst-hit western suburbs.
After the emergence of new cases, several remote towns scattered in New South Wales were also forced to undergo emergency lockdowns, which raised concerns about the uncontrolled spread of the virus.
On Thursday, New South Wales reported 345 new local infections, most of which occurred in Sydney, up from 344 a day ago. Three other local council areas in Sydney—Bayside, Strathfield, and Burwood—have tightened lockdown rules, restricting people’s activities to within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of their homes.
Officials also reported two deaths, two men in their 90s, bringing the total death toll from the latest outbreak to 36. A total of 374 people were hospitalized due to the disease, of which 62 were in the intensive care unit and 29 were on ventilators.
On Wednesday, August 11, 2021, a man reads a newspaper on the steps of Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, Australia [Daniel Pockett/ AAP via AP]New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard said that the state’s health system was under “extreme pressure.”
Neighboring Victoria reported 21 new local infections on Thursday, up from 20 a day ago, as the state’s capital, Melbourne, has 5 million residents preparing to enter the second week of lockdown. Of the new cases, 6 have passed the infectious period in the community, and the authorities stated that this number must be restored to a level close to zero before the restrictions are relaxed.
Authorities on Wednesday extended the blockade in Melbourne for another 7 days until August 19.
Australia has largely avoided the high number of coronaviruses seen in many other countries, with only more than 37,700 cases and 946 deaths. Despite the outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne, there are still few states with almost no COVID-19. But the rapid spread of the Delta variant in New South Wales and the slow launch of the vaccine have made the country vulnerable to a new wave of infections.
Among people over 16 years old, only about 24% are fully vaccinated. Experts believe that Australia will enter a cycle of halting and halting until it vaccinates a higher proportion of the population.
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