Long spared by the pandemic, Australia is now struck by an outbreak of contaminations, carried by the Delta variant, which threatens its “
zero Covid
”
strategy
and will now require it to live with the virus.
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After long periods without contamination, 4,610 cases of Covid-19 have been identified in Sydney, a city of five million inhabitants, since the arrival of this new epidemic wave.
Every day, the island-continent posts new contagion records, despite the current confinement of nearly two-thirds of its 25 million inhabitants.
"We will not return to zero Covid"
Local authorities are starting to consider simply containing the virus, a real change of course after 18 months spent defending the “
zero Covid
”
strategy
.
"
Considering the numbers and what's going on overseas, we now have to live with the Delta variant one way or another, that's obvious,
" said Gladys Berejiklian, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 'State of New South Wales.
“
We will not go back to zero Covid,
” explains Emma McBryde, an infectious disease specialist at James Cook University.
Read also: Australia: 300 soldiers will ensure compliance with containment in Sydney
Like most experts, she acknowledges that Australia's drastic strategy to fight the virus, through an intense screening and tracing campaign, lockdowns and near-closure of its borders, remains essential, although less effective.
"
The objective should now be to keep the Covid under control long enough to be able to be vaccinated,
" she underlines.
Tony Blakely, epidemiologist at the University of Melbourne, also estimated on the public channel ABC that Australia would "
probably never
"
return
to the eradication of cases of local transmission.
Australia did pretty well
With the exception of a few isolated islands in the Pacific and New Zealand, few countries have made it through the first 18 months of the coronavirus outbreak as well as Australia. Australians have lived normally, continuing to frequent bars, restaurants and beaches. The country has recorded a total of 35,390 cases, including 932 deaths.
The rare cases of contamination were linked to hotels, located in large cities, where travelers arriving from abroad are placed in quarantine. But the appearance of the highly contagious Delta variant has changed that. In mid-June, a driver who took charge of airline crews tested positive for this variant. Since then, the number of daily infections has steadily increased despite the containment of Sydney, which entered its sixth week, and epidemic outbreaks have appeared across the country. Nearly 16 million Australians are currently forced to stay at home as Europe and North America lift restrictions.
The NSW policy has been criticized by some Australian states and the government, saying that Sydney's containment was either too late or not strict enough.
Authorities in the states of Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland continue to pursue a policy of preventing the emergence of new cases, a goal that has become harder to achieve.
Australians "tired and frustrated"
"
Australia's zero Covid strategy has enabled us to escape the worst of the pandemic so far: the number of deaths has been among the lowest in the world, our recession among the shortest,
" says a report from the Institute Grattan, a public policy think tank.
“
We have faced fewer restrictions in our daily life than almost anywhere else.
But we have paid a heavy price.
We are cut off from the rest of the world and we have often been confined
”, underlines this report.
"
The Australians have supported a strict policy, but they are also tired and frustrated
."
Today, many agree that vaccination is now the only way out but, with just over 16% of Australians fully vaccinated, in part due to a poor supply, there is still a long way to go.