Australian PM pledges lockdown support for second-most populous state - World News sina.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sina.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday pledged extra vaccines and defence force support for Victoria countrys secondmost populous state which will be placed under a sevenday Covid lockdown from midnight
Victorian tracers identify over 10,000 COVID contacts in Victoria27/05/2021|4min
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino has announced over 10,000 people will be required to quarantine, test or isolate amid Victoria’s latest outbreak.
It comes as the state’s coronavirus cluster grew to 26 cases overnight following 40,411 tests and a fast-rising list of exposure sites.
Locations of concern include the MCG, Marvel Stadium, an RMIT building and businesses in regional towns such as Bendigo.
Mr Merlino said contact tracing teams had rapidly identified and locked down the first, second and third ring within 24 hours.
“They have never done that before. That s the fastest our contact tracers have ever moved within a 24-hour period, identifying and locking down first, second, and third rings of cases,” he said.
Victoria would not be in lockdown if vaccine uptake was higher: James Merlino27/05/2021|4min
Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino says Victoria would not be forced into a draconian seven-day lockdown if vaccination rates had been higher.
“We would not be in this position that we are today, this necessary and difficult position, that we are today, if our vaccination rates were much higher than they are right now,” he said.
It comes as the state’s coronavirus cluster grew to 26 cases overnight following 40,411 tests triggering a state-wide lockdown ending on June 3.
He blamed poor vaccination rates on the Commonwealth government’s delayed rollout of the jab and rare blood clot side effect linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.