Lockdown to end for some 8 million Australians
Sydney, Australia, July 27 (EFE).- Australian authorities Tuesday announced the imminent lifting of a lockdown on around 8 million people in Victoria and South Australia.
The restrictions will remain in force in New South Wales, the epicenter of the latest Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
The lockdown in the two states will end at midnight even as some measures to prevent the spread of the virus will remain.
These include a ban on home visits and the mandatory use of a mask.
The government imposed a lockdown in Victoria for ten days and in South Australia for seven days.
In the state of New South Wales, where the outbreak occurred in mid-June, health authorities reported 172 new infections on Tuesday.
Victoria also reported ten new coronavirus cases.
Around 6 million people in Sydney and its surrounding communities are also under lockdown.
The measure was imposed in Australia’s most populated city on June 26 and is to end on Friday.
But some experts believe it might last until September, given the number of community infections.
Australia, which has relied on swift, tough lockdowns to contain the virus outbreaks, has recorded more than 33,000 cases and 920 deaths since the pandemic began.
Most of the cases occurred during the second wave in Victoria state’s capital, Melbourne, in the middle of last year.
The authorities fear that protests against the lockdown over the weekend will aggravate the outbreak in Sydney as delays in the vaccination rollout have sparked criticism.
Current data shows that only 16 percent of those over 16 years are fully inoculated. EFE
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