Nearly 2,000 daily COVID-19 cases in Australia as Delta gains traction

SYDNEY, Sept. 10 (Reuters) – The daily number of COVID-19 cases in Australia topped 1,900 for the first time in the pandemic on Friday, as an outbreak fueled by the highly infectious Delta variant continued to rise land in the locked cities of Sydney and Melbourne, its largest cities.

Australia is in the throes of a third wave of infections with the Delta outbreak forcing authorities to abandon their COVID-zero strategy in favor of removing the virus.

They are now aiming to start relaxing the strict restrictions after reaching a higher proportion of the population with double-dose vaccinations.

New South Wales (NSW), the epicenter of the country’s worst outbreak, reported 1,542 new local cases daily, beating the previous record of 1,533 affected last week. Nine new deaths were recorded.

“So far this trajectory is what has been predicted,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at a press conference in Sydney, the state capital, where cases are expected to reach a peak. peak next week.

Berejiklian said the daily press briefing on COVID-19 will be removed from Monday and updates will be detailed in an online video, an approach previously used when the number of cases was low.

The increase in cases in Sydney has increased the burden on ambulance personnel, as the number of COVID-19 patients carried doubling in the past two weeks to nearly 6,000, officials said. Some 1,156 people are hospitalized in the state, including 207 in intensive care, of which 89 require ventilation.

Although cases persist near record levels, authorities in New South Wales said on Thursday that Sydney businesses could reopen once 70% of the state’s adult population is fully vaccinated, a target that should be reached around mid-October. So far, 76% of people over 16 in the state have received at least one dose, while 44% have been fully immunized.

Victoria state recorded 334 new cases, its largest increase for this year, and one death. Some restrictions in the capital Melbourne will be relaxed when 70% of the adult population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, expected around 23 September.

A four-step national reopening plan unveiled by the federal government in July aims to ease several difficult restrictions once the country hits a 70-80% vaccination target from 40% now. However, some virus-free states have signaled they may delay easing restrictions on interstate travel and other restrictions.

The total number of infections in Australia is around 70,000 cases, including 1,076 deaths. Higher vaccinations kept the death rate at 0.41% in the Delta outbreak, data shows, below previous outbreaks.

Report by Renju José; edited by Jane Wardell and Lincoln Feast.

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