Australia worries about Covid-19 cases among aborigines

Since the appearance in mid-June in Sydney of a case of Covid-19 due to the Delta variant, the epidemic has recently spread to the west of the state of New South Wales where most of the 116 people contaminated in this region belong to the aboriginal population.

The Prime Minister of this State, Gladys Berejiklian, affirmed that this epidemic is “extremely worrying” while this region of the Outback is confined to try to slow down the contaminations.

This is the first major epidemic in geographically isolated aboriginal communities which would be more vulnerable to Covid-19.

At least five military medical teams will travel to the region from Wednesday to help those in charge of the vaccination campaign, Australian Minister of Health Greg Hunt said.

Barely 15% of the country’s indigenous population is fully vaccinated. This rate is less than 8% in the most remote regions, according to the authorities.

However, this part of the population had been considered a priority for vaccination when the first doses were administered at the end of February.

Asked about the slowness of vaccination within the Aboriginal community, the Conservative government said that some of these residents felt protected because they lived in remote areas. They therefore did not feel the need to be vaccinated.

“The situation has now changed and that is why we are intensifying our efforts,” said Minister of Indigenous Affairs Ken Wyatt.

Mr Hunt said civilian medical teams will be dispatched to the area to assist hospitals, some facing staff shortages.

Means are also being put in place to evacuate people requiring intensive care by plane to other hospitals.

Australia has been praised abroad for its good handling of the pandemic, but border closures and a strict quarantine policy for travelers from other countries have failed to prevent contamination.

More than half of the country’s 25 million people are currently confined, including those in Sydney for two months now. Since the start of the pandemic, Australia has recorded more than 39,500 cases of Covid-19 with nearly a thousand deaths.

AFP

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