More than 200 people were arrested on Saturday August 21 after violent clashes between protesters opposing the lockdown and police in Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, police said.
Read alsoCovid-19: because of the Delta variant, Australia is trying to speed up the rate of injections
The state of New South Wales, where Sydney is located, recorded 825 new cases in 24 hours on Saturday, a record for the country, the day after the extension until the end of September of the confinement of the city, imposed in June, to stop the spread of the Delta variant.
“No matter
how
hard we try,
even if 99% of people are doing the right thing, there is an element of Delta that no one is controlling,
” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.
"
The best way to regain our freedom is to make sure that we are vaccinated
."
A renewed epidemic in the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, also caused an extension of containment throughout this state on Saturday.
Surge of violence
Thousands of people expressed their anger in Melbourne on Saturday during a protest against the containment. Police used pepper spray in violent clashes with protesters. Seven police officers were injured and more than 200 people arrested, during this demonstration described as "
violent and illegal
" by the police of the State of Victoria in a statement.
"
While there were peaceful demonstrators present, the majority of those who participated had violent intentions
," she said.
In Sydney, more than 1,500 police officers were mobilized, erecting roadblocks and arresting dozens of the approximately 250 present, New South Wales police said.
Anti-containment rallies were also held in Brisbane.
Since the start of the pandemic, Australia has recorded more than 42,000 cases of Covid-19 with 974 deaths, for a population of 25 million.
In addition to the lockdown imposed in Sydney at the end of June, the restrictions were extended to two states and the Australian capital Canberra, affecting more than 15 million people.
To date, barely 30% of the population has received two doses of the vaccine, and the progression of the Delta variant is jeopardizing the costly efforts imposed to completely eradicate the Covid.
The nationwide vaccination campaign has accelerated in recent weeks, with authorities setting a target of more than 70% vaccinated before easing restrictions.
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