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At anti-blockade rallies in Sydney and Melbourne, several police officers were injured in clashes with protesters.
Australian police arrested 235 people in Melbourne and 32 people in Sydney at an unauthorized anti-blockade rally. Several police officers were injured in clashes with protesters.
Victoria Police said that six officers in the violence that took place on Saturday required hospitalization. According to the police, television footage showed that several policemen were knocked to the ground and trampled.
After about 700 people managed to gather in parts of Melbourne, the officials used pepper spray. Approximately 2,000 police officers turned the city center into a restricted area, setting up checkpoints and roadblocks. Public transportation and ride-sharing access to the city have been suspended.
“What we saw today was a group of protesters gathered, not to protest freedom, but just to fight with the police,” Victoria Police Commander Mark Galliot told the media.
The illegal gathering coincides with the city’s sixth lockdown since the pandemic began, with more than 500 COVID-19 cases reported in Victoria on Saturday.
The footage of an incident showed a group of people crossing the cordon when a scuffle broke out on the tram route.
In Sydney, riot squad officials, highway patrols, detectives and general duty police were also deployed to the streets to prevent large gatherings.
Since mid-June, Australia has been struggling to deal with the outbreak of the delta variant of the coronavirus. Sydney and Melbourne, as well as the capital Canberra, have been under strict lockdown for several weeks. On Saturday, 1,882 new coronavirus cases were reported, most of which were in Sydney.
Most of the restrictions in Victoria, New South Wales and Canberra will continue until at least 70% of people 16 years of age or older are fully vaccinated. Depending on the current rate of vaccination, this may be achieved by the end of October or early November.
High compliance with public health orders has helped Australia keep the number of infections at a relatively low level. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the total number of cases has been just under 85,000 and the death toll is 1,145.
The vast majority of Australians support vaccination and public health measures, but there are also sporadic and sometimes violent protests against pandemic management.
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