Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Government of New South Wales, Australia, lock down or lockdown a number of areas in the city Sydney to suppress the spike corona virus varian Delta which is more contagious.
Sydney workers and residents were ordered to stay at home for a week starting Friday (25/6).
As quoted from AFP, residents in four areas in downtown Sydney are only allowed to leave their homes for essential reasons, to buy necessities, to medical services, to exercise, or to go to work if it is not possible to work from home.
A total of 65 cases of Covid-19 have been reported linked to a driver who became infected after transporting the crew of an international airline from Sydney airport to a quarantine hotel.
New South Wales leader Gladys Berejiklian called the situation “the scariest period” since the pandemic broke out more than a year ago.
“We have done better than expected in terms of contact tracing,” Berejiklian said.
“But what it does is make sure we don’t miss the chain of community transmission.”
New South Wales recorded 22 new cases on Thursday (24/6) and is the highest figure during the pandemic.
Australian Medical Association President Omar Khorshid was not satisfied with the steps taken by the New South Wales authorities.
He said the local government should have taken tougher action, including locking the entire Sydney metropolitan area.
“The Delta variant virus is different, it spreads more quickly,” said Khorshid. “Sydney has never faced this before.”
Korshid acknowledged the lockdown had had an impact on the economy, but that a wider outbreak could be a “catastrophe” for the entire country.
Australia is one of the most successful countries in the world in tackling Covid-19. To date, the country has 30,424 cases of coronavirus and 910 deaths.
(dea)
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