Australian PM Implements Lockdown Strategy
Australia under Lockdown
INTERNATIONAL | Melbourne - Australia will keep running the region locking strategy ( lockdown ) to fight COVID-19 to 70 percent of the population fully vaccinated. This was conveyed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday 22 August 2021.
But after that, Morrison said, Australia had to start living with the coronavirus. "We can't live in lockdown forever, we have to change gears, and it's all done at a 70 per cent (vaccination rate)," Morrison said in a television interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) programme.
The lockdown is becoming a key element in the federal government's strategy to fight the outbreak until a 70 percent vaccination rate is reached. After that, the border will reopen gradually if the vaccination rate rises to 80 percent.
But diverging from the zero-COVID strategy adopted since the pandemic began, Morrison said it was unlikely Australia would reach zero cases before restrictions could be eased.
" Lockdown is not a sustainable way to fight the virus and that's why we have to reach 70 percent and 80 percent (vaccination) so that we can start living with the virus," he said.
Around 60 per cent of Australia's 25 million people are now under lockdown. The stay-at-home orders that often last for months have tested the patience of many.
NSW Police said they had imposed 928 fines in the past 24 hours for breaches of public health rules. Media reported hundreds of people gathered on Sunday to protest the lockdown at the Queensland State border.
The protests came after hundreds of people were arrested Saturday at anti- lockdown demonstrations in Sydney and Melbourne, the capitals of the two most populous states, NSW and Victoria, which are under tight lockdown.
NSW on Sunday reported 830 new cases, while the Australian Capital Territory where Canberra is located recorded 19. Nationally, active cases in Australia stand at nearly 12,000.
So far, only about 30 per cent of Australia's population aged 16 and over have been fully vaccinated, according to health ministry data on Saturday (21/8). The delay in vaccination was mainly due to the depletion of Pfizer's vaccine stock and public concern over the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Despite facing a third wave of outbreaks triggered by the Delta variant, the case rate in Australia is relatively low with a total of less than 44,000 cases and 981 deaths.
Editor :Andi Saputra
Source : SigapNews Contributors Group