Sydney’s northern beach area goes into lockdown as Australian states, territories tighten restrictions on arrivals from New South Wales.
Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) authorities have subjected approximately a quarter of a million people in Sydney’s North Beach suburbs to a strict lockdown and restricted gatherings throughout the rest of the city in an attempt to contain a growing coronavirus outbreak.
NSW, which incorporates Sydney, recorded 30 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing a cluster that emerged in Sydney’s North Beach area to 70, with some cases still under investigation.
As of Wednesday, Australia had gone more than two weeks without local broadcast and had lifted most of the restrictions before Christmas. The outbreak in Australia’s most populous state prompted states and territories to re-impose border restrictions, causing chaos in vacation travel plans for thousands.
Sydney’s North Beach suburbs entered a strict lockdown on Saturday, with residents only allowing them to leave their homes for five basic reasons: medical care, exercise, shopping, work or for compassionate care reasons.
On Sunday, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian tightened restrictions further, announcing that public gatherings in the rest of Sydney will be limited, with family gatherings limited to 10 participants and hospitality venues to 300, among other restrictions. .
“The police will obviously have a more visible presence to ensure that everyone does the right thing to keep us all safe,” Berejiklian said at a televised press conference.
He also urged people in the greater Sydney area, home to more than five million people, to wear masks in public, although it was not required.
The authorities do not know the origin of the virus in the cases of the northern beaches, which according to genome tests is an American strain.
“We are concerned that health experts have not yet identified how the cluster was transmitted to the community or how it started,” said Berejiklian.
Authorities believe the initial broadcast sites were two clubs in Avalon Beach, but have named more than 30 potential subsequent broadcast sites, from gyms, banks and post offices to supermarkets and pharmacies, and have advised people who have visited. the sites to be tested.
Hospitals in affected suburbs and emerging test sites have been flooded with many people waiting hours to get tested.
Meanwhile, other states have acted to prevent cases from crossing borders, with Western Australia banning anyone from New South Wales from entering the state as of Sunday.
Victoria is expected to further toughen border lines amid the influx of people from New South Wales who rushed to leave the state before Christmas.
The island state of Tasmania also imposed a 14-day quarantine on all arrivals to Sydney, resulting in the cancellation of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race for the first time in its history.
“We are bitterly disappointed to cancel the race this year, especially considering the plans and preparations we have put in place to have a COVID-safe race,” Cruising Yacht Club Commodore Noel Cornish said in announcing the cancellation.
The race, which was first held in 1945, was scheduled to begin on December 26 as part of the Boxing Day tradition in Australia. The yachts leave Sydney Harbor amidst a huge fleet of ships and travel up the east coast of the state of New South Wales en route to the island state of Tasmania and its capital, Hobart.
Australia has avoided the worst of the pandemic due to border closures, lockdowns, widespread testing and social distancing. It has reported just over 28,000 coronavirus cases and 908 deaths since the pandemic began.
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