Australia sends troops to enforce Sydney coronavirus lockdown: Coronavirus update: NPR

[ad_1]

Mounted police officers patrol the edge of Sydney Harbor on Friday as the Australian city was locked down amid a new surge in coronavirus infections. James D. Morgan / Getty Images Hide caption

Toggle caption James D. Morgan / Getty Images

Mounted police officers patrol the edge of Sydney Harbor on Friday as the Australian city was locked down amid a new surge in coronavirus infections.

James DeMorgan / Getty Images

Australian soldiers are joining local police in New South Wales to enforce a coronavirus lockdown in and around Sydney as authorities try to curb the outbreak of recent cases linked to the more contagious type of delta.

Starting Monday, about 300 unarmed soldiers will begin to patrol Sydney – the city of 6 million people. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC, reported that they are knocking on doors to ensure residents are following strict stay-at-home procedures.

On Wednesday, Sydney extended the lockdown for a month – until August 28 – as cases continued to rise. Despite these measures, the state of New South Wales in which Sydney is located has reported an additional 170 traced cases of a man who contracted the virus but failed to self-isolate, ABC said.

New South Wales Police Minister David Elliott told Australia’s Channel Nine that military help was needed to enforce the restrictions because a small minority of people thought “the rules don’t apply to them”.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has come under fire in recent weeks for the slow pace of vaccinations in Australia, with about 14% taken in full doses – one of the poorest records of any OECD member country.

Morrison on Wednesday defended his government’s handling of the vaccination launch, saying “no country has gotten its epidemic response 100%.”

Hoping to quell public anger over the lockdown and discourage vaccine resistance, Morrison said Friday that vaccinated Australians will be able to avoid some of the lockdown once the country’s vaccination rate reaches 70%. Once that rate reaches 80%, he said, widespread lockdowns in major cities will no longer be necessary.

“If you are vaccinated, there will be special rules that apply to you. Why? Because if you are vaccinated, you present less public health risks. You are less likely to contract the virus. You are less likely to transmit it,” the Prime Minister told reporters, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

[ad_2]