Three Australian cities locked in to fight Delta COVID-19 variant Reuters

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY (Reuters)-Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), reported on Tuesday that there was a slight increase in COVID-19 cases, while officials tightened containment measures to curb infection in several other areas The outbreak of the sexual Delta variant.

The outbreak related to this variant in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, has increased to nearly 150 cases. Fearing that this strain may cause a major epidemic, the three major cities were forced to lock down, and several other cities have also adopted some form of restrictions-affecting more than 20 million Australians, accounting for about 80% of the total population.

Perth, the capital of Western Australia, began a four-day lockdown on Tuesday, joining Sydney and Darwin. Queensland will implement a three-day rapid lockdown on the capital Brisbane and some neighboring areas from Tuesday night.

Queensland Governor Annastacia Palaszczuk said: “The risks are real. We need to act quickly. We need to work hard. We need to act quickly.” The state has reported two new local cases.

Sydney is home to one-fifth of Australia’s 25 million people. The area will be locked down for two weeks until July 9, while the lockdown in the northern city of Darwin will be extended for another 72 hours until Friday. There are also strict restrictions in other places, including mandatory masks and reduced gatherings.

New South Wales has reported 19 new cases of local infection, which were detected from a record 67,000 tests, up from 18 a day ago.

In order to prevent infection, Australia announced measures on Monday evening https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/queensland-tightens-covid-19-curbs-amid-australian-outbreak-2021-06-28 COVID-19 Vaccinations, such as compulsory vaccination for high-risk elderly caregivers and employees in isolated hotels, and AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:) vaccines for people under 60.

Because of concerns about blood clots, officials had earlier restricted the use of AstraZeneca injections to people over 60 years old, and suggested that Pfizer (New York Stock Exchange:) In a major change to slow Australia’s immunization efforts, everyone under the age of 60 was vaccinated.

Authorities now say that if doctors approve, people under 60 can apply for the AstraZeneca vaccine, and they will enjoy a no-fault compensation plan that matches the broader practice overseas.

Health officials said that the AstraZeneca vaccine provides a high level of protection against COVID-19, and its benefits far outweigh any risks.

The lockdown, rapid contact tracing and strict social distancing rules have helped Australia keep the number of COVID-19 at a relatively low level. Although its vaccine has encountered several obstacles, there are only more than 30,500 cases and 910 deaths. .