Sydney records deadliest day of COVID-19 pandemic

Australia’s biggest city of Sydney recorded its deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday as troops and police set up roadblocks to limit the movement of people, while Melbourne faced a nightly curfew and a further two weeks of lockdown.

Sydney, which is in its eighth week of lockdown, is the epicentre of Australia’s third COVID-19 wave that threatens to push the country’s A$2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) economy into its second recession in as many years.

New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said seven people in Sydney had died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, surpassing the state’s previous record daily toll from earlier this month.

Berejiklian said New South Wales had detected 478 infections, the highest one-day rise since the pandemic began.

“Our community transmission numbers are disturbingly high,” Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

“Every death is a person who has loved ones, who has died in tragic circumstances,” she added.

Authorities also confirmed the death of a 15-year-old boy from Sydney, who had pneumococcal meningitis and COVID-19.

Australia has confirmed 55 deaths since July 11, breaking a run of more than three months without any fatalities. In total, Australia has recorded 966 COVID-19 deaths.

The toll rose as 200 military personnel were deployed across Sydney to set up roadblocks in the hardest-hit areas, amid persistent reports of people flouting lockdown rules. The latest deployment comes on top of 500 troops deployed last month.

LOCKDOWNS

With only 26% of people above 16 years of age fully vaccinated, Australia is vulnerable to the highly infectious Delta variant that has steadily spread across the country.

While Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Darwin – which entered into lockdown on Monday – are all under tight restrictions, cases have steadily risen.

Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said Melbourne’s 5 million residents would be subjected to a nightly curfew and the city would remain in a lockdown until Sept. 2 after recording 22 new COVID-19 cases.

“We are at a tipping point. There is simply no option today but to further strengthen this lockdown,” Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.

A spike in cases had been driven by people breaking lockdown rules, he said. In one instance, police fined 69 people A$5,500 ($4,034) each for attending an engagement party in breach of the lockdown.

National capital Canberra recorded 19 new cases as it extended its lockdown for a further two weeks.

Australia’s economy rebounded strongly from the initial wave of the pandemic, with unemployment hitting its lowest levels in more than a decade at 4.9% in June.

But with its two most populated cities Sydney and Melbourne in lockdown, economists expect a heavy toll.

“Unemployment may spike back up to 5.5% in the months ahead, mainly driven by (New South Wales),” said Shane Oliver, Chief Economist at AMP.