Transmission Is Still High, Australia Records One Of The Youngest Deaths From COVID-19 Delta Variant

JAKARTA - Sad news comes from the State of New South Wales, Australia which reported one of the youngest deaths from COVID-19, as it struggles to suppress infections from the Delta variant amid a lockdown that has entered its sixth week.

The unnamed man in his 20s, who had no congenital disease, although not yet vaccinated against COVID-19, died at his home in the city, authorities said. He was rapidly deteriorating after previously complaining of only mild symptoms, the statement added.

The deaths highlight the risks facing Australia's largest city, which is struggling to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant, while still less than 20 per cent of the population has been vaccinated.

Last year, the neighboring state of Victoria said an unnamed man also in his 20s had died of COVID-19, although a coroner is still investigating the exact cause of death.

This young man's death is one of only two deaths from COVID-19 reported in New South Wales in the past 24 hours. The state also recorded 233 new cases, close to a 16-month high reported last week. Meanwhile, State Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian said the number of cases was likely to continue to rise.

"I'm not going to rule out the number of cases isn't going to get worse, I really think they're going to get worse," Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

"If you look at the number of people who are infectious in the community, it shows that maybe we haven't peaked yet."

Berejiklian is under intense pressure to loosen movement restrictions that threaten to push Australia into its second recession in as many years. However, he said to ease restrictions by the end of August, 50 percent of the population of his state would have to have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

However, many Australians are still concerned about the risk of rare blood clots from using the AstraZeneca vaccine, one of only two vaccines approved in Kangaroo Country.

In fact, the Government released a model that says states need to vaccinate at least 70 percent of their population, to slow the spread. For this reason, the government asks the public not to wait for the supply of Pfizer's vaccine, which is expected to be realized next month.

New South Wales has taken aggressive precautions to stop the spread of the coronavirus, including closing high-risk suburbs and asking the military to help police enforce lockdown rules.

A total of 17 people have died in Sydney during the current outbreak which began on June 16. During that time, the spike has pushed the total cases in New South Wales to more than 4,000.

Separately, Queensland on Wednesday reported 16 locally acquired cases, the same as the previous day, prompting authorities to declare it the worst outbreak in the state since the start of the pandemic and warn that the lockdown in the capital Brisbane may be extended beyond Sunday.

"If we don't do something very, very, very special in Queensland, we will extend the lockdown," Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young told reporters in Brisbane.

For information, citing Worldometers, the Kangaroo Country has recorded a total of 35,086 cases of COVID-19 infection, with 927 deaths and 30,397 patients declared cured since the start of the pandemic last year.