Disconnecting Delta Variant: Soldiers Start Patrols In Sydney, Brisbane Extends Lockdown

Illustration of the COVID-19 lockdown in Australia. (Wikimedia Commons/Advanstra)

JAKARTA - Australian authorities began deploying troops to carry out lockdown patrols in COVID-19 in Sydney today, while the State of Queensland extended its lockdown to curb the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.

Queensland said it had detected 13 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the largest one-day rise the state has recorded in a year. The lockdown on Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city, originally due to end on Tuesday, has been extended to Sunday evening.

"It's starting to become clear that early lockdowns won't be enough for this outbreak," Queensland Deputy Prime Minister Steven Miles told reporters in Brisbane.

The rising number of new COVID-19 cases in the country's two largest cities comes as concerns grow about how Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government is handling the pandemic.

Australia is going through an 'open - close' lockdown cycle in several cities following the advent of the fast-moving Delta variant. It is predicted that the restrictions will continue to be maintained, until the Kangaroo Country reaches a much more adequate level of vaccination coverage.

Earlier, Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised less chance of a lockdown after Australia managed to vaccinate 70 percent of its population over the age of 16. To date, only 19 percent have been realized, with PM Morrison targeting 70 percent by the end of this year.

Illustration of COVID-19 in Brisbane, Australia. (Wikimedia Commons/Kgb)

Separately, Sydney, Australia's largest city, is starting its sixth week under a stay-at-home order. The state of New South Wales, the capital city of Sydney, said on Monday it detected 207 COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, as daily new cases continued to hold near a 16-month high recorded over the weekend.

A total of more than 3,500 infections have been recorded since the outbreak began in June, when a limousine driver contracted the coronavirus while transporting the crew of an overseas airline, and has asked military personnel to help enforce restrictions.

Meanwhile, Around 300 army personnel, unarmed and under police command, started house-to-house visits to ensure those who tested positive, were self-isolating at home.

Soldiers are also accompanying police officers around the streets of the Sydney area that has recorded the most cases of COVID-19. Footage published online shows police asking several people they met on the street why they were leaving their homes on the mostly deserted streets of Sydney's southwest.

For information, according to Worldometers Australia, a total of 34,610 cases of COVID-19 infection were recorded, with 925 deaths and 29,926 recoveries since last year's pandemic.