CANBERRA • Australia's New South Wales (NSW), home to Sydney, has said it could ease a Covid-19 lockdown that demands five million people stay at home until the end of this month if 50 per cent of the population is vaccinated, even as new infections linger near a 16-month high.
A lifting of restrictions in NSW, the country's most populous state, would be a boost for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, under intense pressure over his government's handling of the vaccine roll-out, with the threat of a second economic recession in as many years looming.
NSW, which accounts for a third of all activity in Australia's A$2 trillion (S$1.99 trillion) economy, has struggled to contain a surge of cases of the highly infectious Delta variant in Sydney, the country's biggest city, despite the lockdown, currently due to be lifted on Aug 29.
While NSW yesterday reported another 199 locally acquired Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours - near a 16-month high of 239 infections recorded in one day last week - the state's Premier Gladys Berejiklian said curbs could be eased if six million people are vaccinated by the time the lockdown is due to end.
Six million jabs are "roughly half the population with at least one or two doses", Ms Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. "That gives us additional options as to what life looks like on Aug 29."
Ms Berejiklian did not say exactly how many in NSW were fully vaccinated as at yesterday, but said the state is on course to meet its vaccination target. She cautioned that the number of infectious people in the community would also need to come down.
Although Australia has largely kept its Covid-19 numbers relatively low, with just over 34,500 cases and 925 deaths, its national vaccination roll-out has hit several roadblocks due to changing medical advice on AstraZeneca doses over blood clot concerns and supply constraints for Pfizer inoculations.
The NSW target comes just days after Mr Morrison promised lockdowns would be "less likely" once the country inoculates 70 per cent of its population above 16 years of age - up from 19 per cent now.
REUTERS
