With the surge in COVID-19 cases in Australia, Sydney’s lockdown has been extended by four weeks Reuters

By Renju Jose and Byron Kaye

SYDNEY (Reuters)-The city of Sydney, Australia extended the lockdown period for four weeks on Wednesday after an already protracted stay-at-home order failed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. The authorities warned that stricter police measures will be taken to put an end to violations behavior.

Far from planning to lift the blockade within three days, this city of 5 million people and the neighboring regional center spanning 200 kilometers (120 miles) of coastline was told to stay at home until August 28 because of the fact that since the outbreak began The number of cases has remained high. The deadly Delta variant started last month.

New South Wales, with Sydney as its capital, reported 177 new cases on Tuesday, compared with 172 on Monday. This is the largest increase since airport drivers who did not wear masks and were not vaccinated caused the current epidemic. The state also reported the death of a woman in her 90s, which was the 11th death in the outbreak.

The authorities stated that it is particularly worrying that at least 46 new cases were from people who were active in the community before being diagnosed, which increased the possibility of transmission. They warned that before the rules are relaxed, active community transmission must be close to Yu zero.

New South Wales Governor Gladys Berejiklian said at a TV news conference: “I am as frustrated and frustrated as all of you because we cannot get the number of cases we want in time, but this is the truth.”

Berejiklian added that the police will strengthen the enforcement of the widespread social distancing rules and urge people to report suspicious misconduct, stating that “we cannot tolerate people continuing to do wrong things because it makes us all back down.”

She said that in one case, 50 people participated in a mourning ceremony that violated the blockade regulations, resulting in 45 infections.

The extension will turn the city that was originally intended to “rapidly” block Australia’s most populous city into one of the longest cities in the country since the beginning of the pandemic, and may trigger a 2 trillion Australian dollar (1.47 trillion US dollar) national economy. The second recession. According to economists, two years.

In order to minimize the impact on the economy, the NSW government said it would lift the ban on idle buildings in most areas of Sydney. However, as COVID-19 cases are widespread there, it has expanded the city’s list of local government areas and the ban will remain in this area.

Federal consequences

The popularity of the federal government may be affected by the prolonged blockade. Opinion polls show that due to constant changes in regulatory recommendations and supply shortages, people have criticized the slow progress of vaccination, and support for Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government is declining.

Morrison said at a TV news conference held in the capital Canberra: “There is no other shortcut, no other way out, we can only squat down and advance.” He admitted that his family was trapped in the blockade of Sydney.

“There will be a lot of criticism, there will be a lot of hindsight, but this kind of delta strain is very unpredictable.”

On Wednesday, the New South Wales Government said it was reorienting Pfizer Inc (NYSE:) vaccine doses have so far been limited to people between 40 and 60 years old, from relatively unaffected remote areas to students in the last year of the most affected Sydney community.

The state and federal governments also stated that they are expanding relief funding programs to enable affected companies to continue to pay wages during the shutdown.

Unlike New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia started their first day in a shorter lockdown to stop the outbreak there. Victoria has reported 8 new cases, all cases were quarantined throughout the infectious period, and another case is still under investigation.

Queensland reported a new case. A man completed the country’s two-week mandatory hotel quarantine and tested positive nine days later. Authorities said they are trying to trace people who may have had close contact with him, including residents of youth hostels where he has stayed.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of COVID-19 in Australia has remained relatively low, with only over 33,200 cases and 921 deaths out of a population of approximately 25 million, but the fast-moving delta virus strain and low vaccination rates make residents feel Frustrated.

($1 = 1.3594 Australian dollars)