The current epidemic outbreak in Sydney is a "
national emergency
", said local authorities on Friday July 23, while the first Australian city has yet recorded a record number of new cases.
Read also: Virus: Sydney hardens its containment
Recognizing that a month of confinement had failed to halt the progression of the highly contagious Delta variant, the state of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, urged the federal capital to urgently send vaccines and resources.
Declaring a state of national emergency could allow greater involvement of the federal authorities in this crisis.
"
We have an obligation, before the Nation, to contain the virus,
" said Premier of New South Wales Gladys Berejiklian.
"
The numbers are not pointing in the right direction
."
"Zero cases" strategy
State health service officials "
told us that the situation (...) is considered to be a national emergency
".
New South Wales announced on Friday that 136 new cases had been identified in 24 hours, a record since the start of this epidemic wave in June, during which 1,782 people were infected in the state.
Australia has long been praised for its initial good results in dealing with the pandemic, which were mainly due to the very strict border closures of the immense continent.
The current number of contaminations may seem insignificant compared to the number of cases in other large countries.
But it is a challenge for Australia which has opted for a strategy of "
zero cases
", with an extremely slow vaccination campaign (12% of the population is vaccinated).
Half of the 25 million Australians are currently under lockdown.
Gladys Berejiklian ruled that the government should "
reorient
" its vaccination policy.
