Hundreds protest Aussie lockdowns
Police officers hurt, dozens of demonstrators arrested as clashes break out in Melbourne, Sydney
SYDNEY—Hundreds were arrested after violent clashes between antilockdown protesters and police in Australia’s two largest cities Saturday as the country recorded 894 new COVID-19 cases—sharpest rise in daily infections since the pandemic began.
Sydney’s state of New South Wales (NSW) posted 825 of the infections a day after authorities extended the city’s lockdown until at least September to try to head off the Delta variant.
“No matter how hard we work, no matter if 99 percent of people are doing the right thing, there’s an element of Delta that nobody can control,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. “The best way we can look forward to freedom is by making sure that we get vaccinated.”
An increasing outbreak in Melbourne’s state of Victoria also prompted stay-at-home orders to be extended across the entire state on Saturday.
But Melbourne’s public health orders didn’t deter thousands from venting anger in a march against the lockdown rules, with police using pepper spray in violent clashes with protesters.
‘Violent‚ unlawful’
Seven officers were injured and more than 200 people were arrested in the “violent and unlawful” protest, Victoria Police said in a statement.
“The majority of those who attended came with violence in mind,” they said.
In Sydney, the epicenter of the Delta variant-fueled outbreak,
more than 1,500 police flooded the city, setting up roadblocks and making dozens of arrests as around 250 gathered there, NSW Police said.
“We are in a very serious situation here in New South Wales,” said state health minister Brad Hazzard. “There is no time now to be selfish, it’s time to think of the broader community and your families.”
The arrested people face fines of A$5,452 ($3,900) each for breaching public health orders.
Large crowds were also reported at an antilockdown rally in Brisbane.
New Zealand cases
Sydneysiders were plunged into lockdown in late June, and restrictions now reach across two states and the nation’s capital, affecting over 15 million people.
In New Zealand, authorities recorded 21 new COVID cases on Saturday, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warning the number will go higher in the next few days and urging the Pacific nation to adhere to the lockdown rules.
The infections in the community outbreak of the highly transmissible Delta variant now total 51. Of the 21 new cases, 18 are in the largest city, Auckland, and three in the capital, Wellington.
Ardern on Friday extended the lockdown for the country of 5.1 million until midnight on Tuesday as the outbreak widened beyond the two key cities.
“One of the things that we’ve learned from New South Wales is that the virus can continue to spread during lockdown,” Ardern said.
Over in Vietnam, the plan to prohibit residents of Ho Chi Minh City from leaving their homes from Monday has triggered panic buying in the epicenter of its worst coronavirus outbreak.
“It’s looking chaotic,” said a person who gave her name only as Nguyen in the city’s District 2.