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Australia: Sydney faces extended lockdown

The authorities in Australia today they encouraged its inhabitants Sydney to stay in their homes, warning that the three-week lockdown application could be extended as they battle to control an outbreak of COVID-19, with the city reporting the highest number of daily locally transmitted infections this year. Hundreds of additional police officers are patrolling various parts of Sydney to strengthen the implementation of the lockdown that has been imposed in the city, monitoring the observance of restrictive measures in order to deal with the outbreak of the delta strain, reports APE.

The total cases of infection have exceeded 400. “New South Wales is facing the biggest challenge we have faced since the pandemic began,” State Secretary Gladys Beretziklian told reporters in Sydney. “Right now, the numbers are not moving in the right direction. Please do not leave your home. “Do not leave your home, unless it is absolutely necessary”, she urged the citizens.

Restrictions in Sydney are intensifying from today

New South Wales reported 44 local cases today. Australia’s most populous state reported 38 cases of the infection yesterday, with 29 of them having spent time in the community while infected. During the current period, 43 cases are being treated, with ten patients in the intensive care unit, while four of them are intubated. The increase in cases of infection is recorded despite the application of a two-week lockdown, which has now been extended for a third week, while it ends on July 16.

Authorities will step up restrictions in Sydney from today, with public meetings limited to two people and residents able to move within 10 km of their homes. Beretziklian has ruled out any case of “coronavirus cohabitation” regarding the low rate of vaccinations in Australia. “If we choose to live with it, while the vaccination rate is at 9%, we will see thousands and thousands of hospitalizations and deaths,” Beretziklian said.

Although Australia has fared much better than other developed countries, keeping COVID-19 numbers relatively low, its vaccination campaign is one of the slowest, due to supply constraints and changes in medical Dosage tips for AstraZeneca main vaccine. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today that Pfizer would increase deliveries of the COVID-19 vaccine to about one million doses a week from July 19, more than tripling the burden as Sydney battles its worst outbreak this year.

About 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer Inc. vaccine, which were expected to arrive in September, will be available next month, Morrison said. Jamal Rifi, a general practitioner from western Sydney, who is at the center of the current outbreak, said several residents were unaware of the danger from the Delta strain, but are becoming increasingly aware as the number of cases increases. “Several members of the local community are suffering from coronavirus and several loved ones are being treated or in the intensive care unit,” Riffy said. “The message has spread to the community and I think you will see more people restricting their movements now, taking the Delta variant more seriously,” he said.

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