SYDNEY • Australia's most populous state reported a rise in new Covid-19 cases yesterday despite a weeks-long stay-at-home order, while police vowed to crack down on any repeat of an anti-lockdown protest which turned violent at the weekend.
New South Wales, which has had more than five million people in its capital Sydney under lockdown for a month, reported 145 new cases of the virus, up from 141 a day earlier, as it struggles to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant.
The state also reported two new deaths, a man and a woman both in their 80s, taking its total fatalities to 10 since the new flare-up began a month ago and the national total to 920 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Of particular concern is the fact that 51 of the newly diagnosed cases were active in the community before testing positive, raising the risk of transmission. The authorities have said they want that number near zero before lifting the city's most restrictive lockdown of the pandemic on its target date of July 30.
"We might need to go harder in some areas and release some settings in others," state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at a televised news conference, apparently referencing five government areas of Sydney's suburbs at the epicentre of the outbreak.
Ms Berejiklian added that she would give an update on movement curbs in the next few days.
Thousands of people had marched in an anti-lockdown protest in central Sydney over the weekend which turned violent, an event that the state's chief health officer Kerry Chant called "distressing".
Images and videos of the protest circulated on social media, including one image of a man apparently punching a police horse in the head. State police commissioner Mick Fuller said some 10,000 people had called the police hotline to report those suspected of breaking lockdown orders. He added that the police knew of plans for a repeat protest and similar behaviour "won't be tolerated again".
Meanwhile, Victoria state, which is also under lockdown, reported 11 new cases, although all were in quarantine during their infectious period. The authorities said they would decide today whether to lift restrictions as hoped.
Neighbouring South Australia said it was on track to exit its snap one-week lockdown tomorrow, after reporting one new local case, also in quarantine through their infectious period.
With about 32,900 cases and fewer than 1,000 deaths, Australia has kept its coronavirus numbers relatively low, although the fast-spreading Delta strain and low vaccination numbers among developed economies have worried residents.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
