Australia recorded the highest number of new coronavirus infections this year. More than 15 million of the island’s inhabitants are under a severe lockdown, according to Reuters. The Health Minister of New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, called on residents to stay home and get vaccinated.
On Saturday, 361 new COVID-19 cases arrived in Australia. Five infected people died. The three most populous states in Australia are covered by the lockdown: Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales, where on Saturday the most tragic record of 319 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic was recorded.
“We’re seeing some people just not following the rules. Stay home and get vaccinated, says Brad Hazzard, health minister for New South Wales, the country’s most populous state. .
Police on patrol in the streets of Liverpool, SydneyPAP / EPA / JOEL CARRETT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
The sixth lockdown in Victoria
The state of Victoria recorded the highest daily increase in cases – there were 29 of them on Saturday. The state remains in the sixth – since the beginning of the pandemic – lockdown. Victoria’s Prime Minister, Dan Adrews, urges residents to follow sanitary regulations and not to leave their homes unless necessary. The exemption includes going to work, shopping, vaccinating. Two hours of outdoor physical activity are also allowed.
Queensland, with 13 cases recorded on Saturday, plans to lift the restrictions on Sunday, but only in some parts of the state if the situation does not worsen.
In Australia, a total of 36,000 cases of Covid-19 have been reported since the start of the pandemic. 937 deaths died. Despite the modest severity of the pandemic, the country is struggling with low levels of vaccination. 20 percent of Australia’s people over the age of 16 are now fully vaccinated.
Main photo source: PAP / EPA / DIEGO FEDELE AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT