Australia reports highest record of Covid-19 cases
“Just stay at home – that is the circuit breaker. Stay at home and get vaccinated.” Brad Hazzard
MELBOURNE: Australia saw a record daily number of new coronavirus cases this year, with the country’s most populous states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland recording a total of 361 cases of the highly infectious Delta variant.
With about 15 million people in the three states, or 60% of Australia’s population, under a strict lockdown, the country also reported five coronavirus-related deaths, one of the highest this year.
NSW suffered its worst pandemic day, reporting 319 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases, with Sydney and neighbouring regional centres spanning 200km of coastline under a stay-at-home order for six weeks already.
NSW authorities, who had been reluctant to put Sydney into a lockdown, said lack of observance of rules has been a problem.
“What we have happening right now is some people are not complying,” NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
“Just stay at home – that is the circuit breaker. Stay at home and get vaccinated.”
Neighbouring Victoria saw the highest daily jump in cases this year, with 29 new infections, as the state remains under a snap seven-day lockdown imposed earlier this week, the state’s sixth since the start of the pandemic.
Victoria Premier Dan Andrews urged people to follow the public health rules that allow residents to leave their house only for essential work, shopping, care, vaccination or two hours of outdoor exercise.
“This Delta variant spreads so fast,” Andrews said.
“We don’t have enough of people vaccinated, we will finish up with younger people in the hospital, otherwise fit and healthy people. Our system will be overrun if we don’t bring this under control.”
Meanwhile, as the city of Brisbane is set to end its lockdown today, health officials urged people not to become complacent ahead of the loosening of restrictions.
A lack of supply and pockets of vaccine hesitancy has throttled efforts to immunise Australians, with just over 20% of the population fully vaccinated.
The nation managed to avoid the worst of the pandemic for the past 18 months, but the effectiveness of its “Covid zero” policy had been called into question as lockdowns struggle to stamp out the Delta variant.