Australia was hailed for its corona strategy. Now they are deploying soldiers in the fight against infection.

The delta variant and few vaccinated create problems. Now the city of Sydney is closed down again.

Australia has long been hailed as one of the countries in the world that coped best with the pandemic. The country with around 20 million inhabitants has long had low infection rates and few deaths. However, it has cost. The borders have been closed for several months. The country has closed down several times.

Sydney is now in a five-week shutdown. Until the end of August, the inhabitants mostly have to stay at home.

With the approximate curfew also comes the protests. Thousands have marched in the streets to express their dissatisfaction with the measures.

At the same time, infection rates are rising.

Must knock on doors

It is the deadly combination of the more contagious delta variant and low vaccination rate that worries. In Sydney, authorities have now asked the military for help.

From Monday, soldiers will patrol together with the police to ensure that the inhabitants follow the rules. They must knock on doors to make sure that the infected person isolates themselves.

There are only a few exceptions to the curfew. You must either have a socially critical job, go to the doctor or necessary training, or perform care for the sick.

The trace of infection shows that the infection is now primarily spreading among those who are allowed to move around the city.

– Chopped on and marginalized

The deployment of soldiers is controversial. The Bar Association calls it “worrying in a liberal democracy”.

The management of the police answers that it is necessary, because a small proportion of the inhabitants seem to think that “the rules do not apply to them”, writes BBC.

The outbreak hits hardest in the city’s poorest districts. It is also in the areas where the proportion of immigrants is highest.

Critics say the measures are discriminatory, and that they are stricter in some parts of the city.

– Our people belong to some of the poorest population groups. They already feel chopped up and marginalized, says Steve Christou, a local mayor.

He says many can not afford rent and food. He believes that life for many will be more difficult if soldiers are now placed in the streets.

In New South Wales, the country’s largest state, there were 222 patients admitted to hospital with covid-19 on Sunday.

54 of them receive intensive care, 25 are on a respirator. Seven of the intensive care patients will be in their 20s.

– It shows that the disease can be very serious also for younger people, says Jeremy McAnulty from the health service in New South Wales.

Struggling with the vaccination

Gladys Berejiklian is the state political leader.

She now emphasizes the importance of speeding up vaccination. She refers to other areas in the country and says that new closures are the only option.

– This is not how we want to live our lives. Therefore, we hope that this is the last shutdown here. That will be the case, as long as people are vaccinated, says the Prime Minister according to The Guardian.

It was in mid-June that the outbreak with the delta variant started. So far, no fully vaccinated person has needed intensive care. The vast majority of the seriously ill had not received the first dose either.

A problem with corona management is that Australia has invested heavily in the Astra Zeneca vaccine.

This created difficulties when it became clear that blood clots in some rare cases were a side effect. The BBC writes that the authorities did not recommend anyone under the age of 60 to take the Astra Zeneca vaccine.

Australia thus ended up a bit behind in the queue to get the other vaccines.

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