As cases increase, the Australian military will help implement the Sydney COVID-19 blockade Reuters

Colin Parkham and Renju Jose

SYDNEY (Reuters)-The Australian army will help implement a blockade in Sydney after a record daily increase in COVID-19 cases announced on Thursday in this city of 6 million people and state authorities said the outbreak may get worse.

The blockade of Australia’s largest city has increased the pressure on Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is now behind in opinion polls, and has heightened fears that Australia’s 2 trillion Australian dollars ($1.5 trillion) economy may fall into recession.

Although Sydney has extended the lockdown since the outbreak of the highly infectious delta virus, the city recorded 239 new cases of locally infected coronavirus in 24 hours, the largest single-day increase since the pandemic began.

New South Wales Governor Gladys Berejiklian (Gladys Berejiklian) said: “Given the number of contagious people in the community, we can only assume that the situation may get worse before it improves.” Sydney is in the state. Capital.

Berejiklian said that the death toll caused by the latest epidemic has increased to 13, and there are 921 people across the country.

Berejiklian said that there are few signs that restrictions will reduce infections, but new restrictions will be implemented in the southwest and western areas of Sydney where most COVID-19 cases have been detected.

Residents there will be forced to wear masks outdoors and stay within five kilometers (three miles) of their homes.

With stricter restrictions beginning on Friday, the New South Wales Police said it has asked 300 military personnel to help enforce the lockdown order.

Defense Secretary Peter Dutton said these personnel will be deployed on Friday and will begin to assist the police in ensuring compliance with restrictions next week.

Blockade extension

Berejiklian extended the lockdown in Sydney for another month on Wednesday.

New South Wales accounts for more than one-third of the Australian economy. Federal Treasury Secretary Josh Frydenberg (Josh Frydenberg) said that he expects the national economy to shrink in the September quarter, but whether a technical recession can be avoided will depend on whether New South Wales can avoid a longer blockade.

Friedenberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “For the December quarter, this will largely depend on the success of our largest state economy, New South Wales, in fighting this virus.”

Berejiklian has said that due to the tight supply of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, there are too few people vaccinated in Sydney, and Australia hopes to vaccinate everyone under the age of 60.

All adults in Sydney have been urged to seek the AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:) vaccine.Some people expressed reluctance on the grounds of a rare blood clot, preferring to wait a few months because Australia is expected to receive more Pfizer (New York Stock Exchange:) Supply.

($1 = 1.3561 Australian dollars)