07/07/2020 - 9:04
- Clarín.com
- World
Melbourne, Australia's second most populous city with around 5 million residents, will undergo a new quarantine of six weeks after midnight on Wednesday after a rebound of coronavirus.
Local authorities announced on Tuesday the measure recommended by Health in order to control the expansion of new cases detected, many of which were caused by local infections and several in unknown outbreaks.
This outbreak, which began to worsen two weeks ago and has already exceeded 1,000 cases, is attributed to the failure to comply with the restriction measures in the quarantine centers established for travelers from abroad.
"We are in a more precarious, more challenging and potentially more tragic position than where we were a few months ago," said Victoria's chief executive officer, Daniel Andrews.
Map locating the state of Victoria and Melbourne in Australia where the metropolitan area is once again confined - AFP / AFP
In addition to the Melbourne metropolitan area, the regional government also ordered the isolation of the rural Mitchell municipality of some 44,000 residents.
Australia, with just over 8,500 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic, including 106 deaths, had managed to contain the spread of the virus to the current outbreak.
The oceanic country, whose borders are still closed except for special and repatriation flights, has implemented physical distance measures since last March, although it was already in the last phase of lack of confidence towards the new normality.
Although Australia's policies, which banned meetings of more than two people, were not as harsh as in other countries affected by the pandemic.
Now, the confinement in Melbourne will be more stringent than the previous one and the inhabitants will not be able to travel to their second homes although they will be able to leave the home to go to work, shop, study or go to the doctor.
Restaurants and cafeterias will only be able to sell takeaways, schools will extend their vacations, while hairdressers will be the only ones that will be able to keep their doors open , according to the announced measures.
"If we don't take those steps, it won't be a couple hundred cases a day, it will be much more than that and it will get out of control ," Andrews explained.
Last week, local authorities have already confined twelve areas of Melbourne and nine public housing towers , in addition to conducting massive tests to detect potential carriers.
To prevent possible expansion into other regions, the border between the state of Victoria, whose capital is Melbourne, and the state of New South Wales , the country's two main territories and whose combined population exceeds 50% of total Australia.
This border, with more than 4,600 kilometers, remained open during the harshest months of the pandemic and its closure, for the first time in more than a century, will be controlled by 650 police officers and, as confirmed by a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense to EFE , for between 350 and 500 soldiers.
Victoria, which represents 23% of the national economy, is also isolated from Australia's other jurisdictions, which in some cases have gone weeks without reporting infections.
Australia, which invested more than 13% of its gross domestic product in aid funds and stimuli for the pandemic , is considered the third best country in the management of the fight against it, after South Korea and Latvia, according to a recent report. UN Sustainable Development Commission.
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