Melbourne: Chaos on the streets of Australia as police bomb anti-lockdown protesters | world | News

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Australian police arrested hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters in Melbourne and Sydney on Saturday and seven officers were hospitalized as a result of the clashes, as the country saw its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases. Mounted police used pepper spray in Melbourne to disperse crowds of more than 4,000 heading towards police lines, while a large group of riot police prevented smaller groups of protesters from gathering in Sydney. Videos on social media showed protesters being peppered, amid reports that police were “using rubber bullets”.

Victoria State Police said they have arrested 218 people in the state capital, Melbourne.

They imposed 236 fines and detained three people for assaulting the police.

Those arrested face fines of A$5,452 (£2,853) each for breaching public health orders.

Police in New South Wales, where the capital is Sydney, said they have charged 47 people with breaching public health orders or resisting arrest, among other offences, and sentenced more than 260 fines ranging from A$50 (£26) to US$3,000. Police said about 250 people had arrived in the city to protest.

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Sydney, Australia’s largest city with a population of more than 5 million, has been under a strict lockdown for more than two months, failing to contain an outbreak that has spread across internal borders and into neighboring New Zealand.

The vast majority of the 894 cases reported across Australia on Saturday were found in Sydney, the epicenter of a variable Delta outbreak.

“We are in a very dangerous situation here in New South Wales,” State Health Minister Brad Hazzard said. “There is no time now to be selfish, it is time to think about the broader community and your families.”

Police patrolled the streets of Sydney and blocked public and private transport to the city center to reduce the number of people gathered for an unauthorized protest.

Compliance with public health rules has been one of the main reasons cited behind why Australia, compared to other wealthy countries, has been so successful in managing the pandemic. But the country is struggling to rein in the third wave of infections that began in Sydney in mid-June.

Australia has had about 43,000 cases of COVID-19 and 978 deaths. But while those numbers are low, about a third of Australians aged 16 and over have been fully vaccinated, according to Federal Health Ministry data released on Saturday.

NSW officials announced three deaths and 516 people in hospital on Saturday. Of the 85 people in intensive care, officials said, 76 were not vaccinated.

There were at least 96 people active in the community during the contagion period, and there were a number of violations of public health orders, slowing efforts to curb the outbreak.

In Victoria, at least 39 people were active in the community during the infection. 18 people were hospitalized, eight in intensive care and six on ventilators.

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