GEIS-新闻详情

Australia sees its worst day of Covid-19 pandemic amid Delta-variant outbreak

2021-08-19 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-亚洲原网页

SYDNEY (BLOOMBERG) - Australia has suffered its worst day since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with total daily cases surpassing the previous record posted more than a year ago as a Delta-variant outbreak spreads as far as New Zealand.

New South Wales recorded 681 new cases, Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Thursday (Aug 19) in Sydney, where stay-at-home orders have been enforced for almost two months.

Meanwhile, Victoria state recorded 57 new infections - more than double from the previous day, and its highest tally since September - as Melbourne endures its sixth lockdown since the pandemic began.

The number of cases in Australia's two-most populous states surpasses the nation's previous high, recorded in early August 2020, when Melbourne was in the midst of a lockdown that lasted for three months.

The authorities are now finding that lockdown strategies that had previously worked to eliminate community transmissions are struggling to contain the spread of the highly contagious strain, especially as people grow increasingly weary of the stay-home restrictions.

"Everyone will have to learn to live with Delta," Ms Berejiklian said, signalling that her government had abandoned attempts to eliminate the virus. "In New South Wales, we are learning that earlier than in other states," she said.

Ramping up vaccination rates was vital in order to start removing some lockdown restrictions, she added.

Australia's outbreak has spread to New Zealand, which has entered a strict nationwide lockdown and recorded at least 20 infections. The first community case in New Zealand since February was detected earlier this week, and genome testing has showed a clear link to the Delta surge in New South Wales.

Sydney's outbreak is also increasingly spreading into other areas of Australia, forcing more than half of the country's 26 million people into lockdown. That is creating an unprecedented threat to indigenous communities hundreds of miles from Australia's most populous city, including in western New South Wales, where more than 150 infections have been detected.

The rapid rise in infections underscores how both nations' so-called "Covid Zero" strategy - which has seen them rely on restricted international borders and rigorous testing to eliminate community transmission - is under increasing strain.

The case surge has injected a sense of urgency into Australia's previously slow vaccine roll-out, which has seen Prime Minister Scott Morrison criticised by health experts and political rivals for failing to quickly secure enough shots from a wide range of drug makers.

As recently as March - when Australia was generally free of the virus - Mr Morrison declared that the inoculation roll-out was not a "race". But the Delta variant has flipped the script, with health authorities now trying to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible despite remaining hampered by supply restraints.