Millions of Sydney residents were confined this Sunday morning for two weeks, a measure aimed at containing the progression of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19 in Australia’s largest city. Restaurants, bars and cafes were all closed the day after the authorities’ decision to extend confinement to the entire metropolis as well as to the coastal and mountainous regions that surround it.
The city of Darwin, located in the north of the immense island continent, also entered a 48-hour flash containment on Sunday after the appearance of cases linked to an epidemic focus in an isolated gold mine. Cases of Covid-19 were also identified on Sunday in the major cities of Perth and Brisbane, prompting local authorities to tighten restrictions.
Stop in Australia
This week in Sydney and its outskirts, more than 110 people have tested positive for the Delta variant, all related to a driver who was driving crews of airlines arriving from overseas to their quarantine hotel. “Given the contagious nature of this variant, we believe that the number of cases may increase in the coming days,” Gladys Berejiklian, Prime Minister of New South Wales where Sydney is located, warned Sunday.
The discovery of these new cases was a shock for Australia’s largest metropolis with more than five million inhabitants who, for several months, had returned to an almost normal life.
For two weeks, residents will only be able to go out to buy essentials, get medical care, exercise, go to school or work if they cannot work from home. Anyone in the country who has also visited Sydney since June 21 must also self-isolate for fourteen days.
Exceptional measurements for 48 hours
Northern Territory government official Michael Gunner expressed concern about the ability of the authorities to trace contact cases in Darwin, in a region with a large indigenous population that would be more vulnerable to Covid-19. “We are currently taking exceptional measures to stop or slow down any spread of the virus, so we must proceed with containment,” he said.
The inhabitants of Darwin and its outskirts, more than 150,000 people, are prohibited from leaving their homes for at least 48 hours.
Australia, which has so far contained the spread of Covid-19 rather well on its soil, has totaled since the start of the pandemic less than 30,000 cases of Covid-19 and 910 deaths for 25 million inhabitants.