Heavy crashes and more than 250 detainees in another protest against the lockdown in Australia

08/21/2021 12:25 PM

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 08/21/2021 12:26 PM

Hundreds of people were arrested this Saturday for violent clashes between protesters against confinement and the police in two cities in Australia, which registered

the highest number of new cases

of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

Thousands of citizens took to the streets of Sydney and Melbourne this Saturday to protest

against the new mobility restrictions

approved by the country's government in order to face the spread of the coronavirus.

Before noon, more than 700 police officers began imposing tickets on the streets of Melbourne for those who planned to join the demonstration against the lockdown in the city.

In addition, they were in charge of enforcing the anti-Covid-19 regulations during the mobilization.

Meanwhile, in Sydney the Police launched a "significant operation" in order to quell the planned marches, and announced that anyone who does not respect current health regulations will be fined, according to the local

Sydney Morning Herald newspaper

.

More than 1,500 officers were deployed in that city, blocking streets and detaining dozens of people, New South Wales state police reported.

A protester confronts police during Saturday's protest in Melbourne, Australia.

Photo: AFP

Mass arrests

But, as happened in similar mobilizations at the end of July, the protest against the blockade in Sydney led to mass arrests based on the violation of a Public Health Order.

Thus, while the Police detained some of the protesters, the crowd launched

slogans against the government and its measures

that, they denounce, directly attack "the laws and the Constitution."

In this context, the Minister of Health of New South Wales, Brad Hazzard, sent a message to the citizens who went to the marches against the restrictions.

Police arrest a protester in Sydney this Saturday in another march against restrictions due to the advance of the pandemic.

Photo: EFE

And he described them as people who "don't give a damn" about the situation of the pandemic in the country.

Pepper spray

At the same time, protesters in Melbourne launched flares shouting "freedom".

Very few wore chinstraps, according to local newspaper

The Age

.

In this city, the police used pepper spray against protesters.

Seven officers were injured and more than 200 people were arrested in a "violent and illegal" protest, Victoria State Police said in a statement.

Hazzard regretted that Australia is experiencing "a very serious situation" with

a very saturated health system

and in which there is a part of the population that "deliberately does not comply with what they have been asked to do."

Record of infections

The health authorities of New South Wales notified this Saturday a new record of coronavirus infections, with 825 new positives, as well as three more deaths in the last 24 hours.

Protesters against lockdowns in Melbourne, Australia, this Saturday.

Photo: AFP

The Deputy Director of Health, Dr. Mariaanne Gale, reported that of the 85 people who are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, 76 are not vaccinated, while the remaining nine patients have only received one dose of the vaccine.

As New South Wales recorded 642 local cases on Friday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced

radical new restrictions

for Sydney, including a

curfew

for hotspot regions, as well as mandatory outdoor mask use for the entire city.

There were also reports of major protests in the city of Brisbane.

Australia, which had been isolated to prevent the entry of the virus, faces a spike in cases since June due to the arrival of the contagious Delta variant that has caused a return of severe restrictions.

Source: AFP and DPA

CB

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