Australian authorities on Saturday ordered new restrictions, including the closure of more businesses in Sydney, amid an upsurge in the pandemic despite several weeks of containment.
Read also: Covid-19: Australia introduces new restrictions to stop the spread of the Delta variant
Any trade deemed non-
essential
will have to lower the curtain in Sydney and its periphery, New South Wales Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian said. The construction sites were interrupted in the city. "
It is not enough to stand still as we are doing now: we have to a certain extent stabilized (the situation) but we are not managing to reverse the trend,
" she lamented.
Residents of the most affected neighborhoods are prohibited from leaving, unless they work in the health sector or emergency services. Lockdown in Sydney began on June 26 and has already been extended twice, at least until July 30. It concerns more than six million inhabitants. New South Wales has recorded one new death and the number of new daily infections is over 100, Berejiklian said. “
I don't remember our state ever facing such a challenge,
” she said.
In Melbourne, residents are entering the second day of their fifth lockdown and authorities have tightened already tight controls on arrivals from Sydney.
"
We struck hard and fast to make sure this lockdown was as brief as possible,
" Victoria State Health Minister Martin Foley told reporters.
Australia has long been praised for its good initial results in dealing with the pandemic, which were mainly due to the very strict closure of the borders of the huge island continent.
But the vaccination campaign is extremely slow - less than 10% of the population is vaccinated - as many developed countries begin to envision the world after.
