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 In the past few days, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Darwin imposed
lockdowns, though the number of cases recorded daily nationwide were
still being counted in tens rather than hundreds.
Around one in two Australians are now under stay-at-home orders,
with millions of others subjected to movement curbs and mandatory
mask-wearing amid flare-ups of the highly contagious strain in
several locations.
On Wednesday the COVID scare reached the far-flung town of Alice
Springs, as officials issued stay-at-home orders after a potentially
infected traveller used the airport.
Though less than 30,000 people live in Alice Springs, it is known by
tourists around the world as the town they have to visit to reach
the giant red sandstone monolith of Uluru, formerly known as Ayers
Rock, that lies 335 km (208 miles) to the southwest and is sacred to
the Indigenous Australians.
While Northern Territory (NT) recorded no cases of community
transmission, the region's officials opted for caution over the
potential exposure at Alice Springs due to concerns about the
potential impact on indigenous communities.
"The reason we are doing this lockdown is the size of the exposure
window and vulnerability of the local population. I will take no
risk with that," NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said.
With more than five million residents of greater Sydney under a
two-week lockdown until July 9, New South Wales state reported 22
new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, all linked to
prior infections.
That was up slightly from the previous two days, but below the peak
of 30 new cases reported on Sunday. The state remains the
worst-affected in the current outbreak that started two weeks ago
when a limousine driver who transported overseas airline crew tested
positive.
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Elsewhere, the northeast state of Queensland
reported three new locally acquired cases,
Western Australia state logged one, and South
Australia reported its first locally transmitted
cases this year.
Officials in Queensland stopped short of
imposing a full lockdown, saying they believed
the threat was contained.
VACCINE WOES
Lockdowns, tough social distancing, swift
contact tracing and a high community compliance
have helped Australia quash prior outbreaks and
keep its COVID-19 numbers relatively low. It has
reported just over 30,560 cases and 910 deaths
since the pandemic began.
But less than 5% of its 20 million adult
population has been fully vaccinated, leading to
criticism of a sluggish national inoculation
drive.
The federal government on Monday announced it
would indemnify doctors who administer
AstraZeneca's vaccine shots to people under 60,
after previously preferring Pfizer doses for
that age group due to blood clot concerns.
However, Queensland state authorities said they
would not endorse the move.
"I don't want an 18-year-old in Queensland dying
from a clotting illness who, if they got COVID
probably wouldn't die," Queensland state Chief
Health Officer Jeannette Young said in a media
conference.
(Reporting by Renju Jose and Paulina Duran in
Sydney; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Jane Wardell
& Simon Cameron-Moore)
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