Australia has recorded nearly 28,200 cases and 908 deaths since the pandemic began. (Archive)
Sydney:
Australia confirmed on Monday that it has detected two cases of a rapidly spreading new strain of coronavirus that has forced Britain to reverse plans to ease restrictions over Christmas, the first confirmed cases of the strain in the Asia region and the Peaceful.
Australia’s most populous state on Sunday reported six new cases of the new coronavirus in people returning from abroad who were quarantined, with authorities saying that included two cases of the rapidly spreading new strain.
However, New South Wales officials stressed that no people infected with the new strain were believed to be circulating in the community.
“We have had a couple of travelers come back to the UK with the particular mutations,” NSW Health Director Kerry Chant told reporters.
Australia, which has closed its borders to all non-citizens and permanent residents since March, said it was not considering suspending flights to the UK.
“Everyone coming from the UK is going to spend 14 days in hotel quarantine and they are not at risk as the quarantine works so successfully,” Medical Director Paul Kelly told reporters.
Authorities were also hopeful they could cope with an outbreak of the virus in Sydney after New South Wales reported its lowest one-day rise in new infections in three days.
The state said 15 people had tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours, compared to 30 the day before, bringing the total number of cases in a new outbreak centered on Sydney’s north beaches to 83.
“I am satisfied with what we have seen overnight, but again, it is volatile,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.
The government will provide an update by Wednesday on “what Christmas and the next few days will be like” in terms of containment measures, he said.
Other states and territories have moved quickly to close the borders to Sydney’s 5 million residents, which has ruined Christmas travel plans.
“2020 is not over with us yet,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters.
BORDER BLOCKS
New South Wales imposed a shutdown on Sydney’s North Beach area, home to more than 250,000 people, on Friday after the group emerged, focusing on two restaurants and entertainment venues in the coastal suburb of Avalon.
Roughly 90 locations, including cafes, gyms, casinos and supermarkets across Sydney, were identified as being visited by infected people.
Authorities have urged anyone visiting the sites to get tested immediately and to isolate themselves, while dozens of domestic flights due to leave Sydney were canceled.
With travel in chaos, states and territories warned their residents to leave New South Wales and return quickly if they wanted to avoid mandatory quarantine.
Concrete barriers will appear on the border between New South Wales and the state of Queensland, with police and military personnel deployed to enforce the rules, the Queensland state government said.
Desperate to contain the spread, New South Wales has opened dozens of new test sites, some of which are open 24 hours a day.
Health authorities said more than 38,000 tests had been carried out in the last 24 hours, a record.
The source of the Sydney cluster was not known, although Berejiklian said tests showed that the virus strain was nearly identical to that found in an unidentified woman who arrived on December 1 from the United States.
All arrivals must go into quarantine, which Australia considers essential to avoid the high numbers of coronavirus compared to other developed nations.
Australia has recorded nearly 28,200 cases and 908 deaths since the pandemic began.
The Sydney outbreak has forced the abandonment of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race for the first time in 76 years, and other cities are on hold to host an Australian-India cricket event scheduled to begin at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 1st. 7.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
.
